Camp Concentration

Camp Concentration is a 1968 science fiction novel by American author Thomas M. Disch. Framed as the diary of a conscientious objector imprisoned during a future war, it depicts an experimental program that uses a strain of syphilis to heighten intelligence, leading to a rapid syphilitic death.

First serialized in New Worlds in 1967 and published in book form in the United Kingdom in 1968 and the United States in 1969, the novel is widely associated with the New Wave in science fiction. Critics have highlighted its Faustian themes, dense literary allusions, and experimental style; some fault the closing turn, while later scholarship frequently treats the novel as a classic of the genre. The book won the 1969 Ditmar Award for Best International Science Fiction Novel.