Confined in Bedlam in 1797 as an incurable lunatic, James Matthews' case is one of the most bizarre in the annals of psychiatry. He was the first person to insist that his mind was being controlled by a machine: the Air Loom, a terrifying secret weapon whose mesmeric rays were brainwashing politicians. But Matthews' case was even stranger than his doctors realized: many of the incredible conspiracies were entirely real. Caught up in the French revolution, he found himself with a secret that no-one would believe.