Book Cover of Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 2

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 2

by Charles Mackay

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." "In reading the history of nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities; their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first." So wrote author Charles MacKay in this landmark work, which is still in print in the twenty-first century, and is considered most important for its analysis of economic "bubbles," such as the dot com bubble of 1997-2001. To a lesser degree, it was one of the first serious attempts to examine crowd psychology and is still a touchstone in that field. The history of the twentieth century suggests that as the planet has become more populated, the workings of crowd psychology have increasingly influenced everyday life, sustaining the longevity of MacKay's observations. In this volume are eight topics, four of which MacKay would classify as "Peculiar Follies:" the Crusades, the Witch Mania, the outbreak of assassination by slow poisoning, and a belief in haunted houses. The other four: Popular Admiration for Great Thieves, Popular Follies in Great Cities, Duels & Ordeals, and Relics, he classified as national delusions.
Books in 'Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds' series
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 2 by Charles Mackay

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

English

Published In

1841

Authors

Charles Mackay image

Charles Mackay was a Scottish poet, journalist, author, anthologist, novelist, and songwriter, remembered mainly for his book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. ...

Books by Charles Mackay

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

Woman and the Republic Cover image

Woman and the Republic by Helen Johnson

First published in 1897, the book is considered to be the best summary of the arguments against woman suffrage. It allows readers to understand better...

Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei Cover image

Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei by Karl Marx

Karl Marx und Friedrich Engels schrieben ihr Manifest im Dezember 1847, als Leitfaden fuer die grundsaetzlichen Prinzipien und Praktiken des Kommunism...

The Theory of the Leisure Class Cover image

The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen

The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions (1899) is a book by Thorstein Veblen about how the possession or pursuit of wealth...

The Birth of Tragedy Cover image

The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche

The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of is an 1872 work of dramatic theory by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It was reissued in 1886 as T...

Pictures of Jewish Home-Life Fifty Years Ago Cover image

Pictures of Jewish Home-Life Fifty Years Ago by Hannah Trager

Hannah Trager published Pictures of Jewish Home-Life Fifty Years Ago in 1926, so the book is a portrait of day to day life for a Jewish family in Jeru...

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 1 Cover image

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 1 by Charles Mackay

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is an early study of crowd psychology by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay, first published...

The History of Standard Oil: Volume 1 Cover image

The History of Standard Oil: Volume 1 by Ida Tarbell

The History of the Standard Oil Company is a 1904 book by journalist Ida Tarbell. It is an exposé about the Standard Oil Company, run at the time by o...

Current Superstitions  Cover image

Current Superstitions by Fanny Bergen

Different superstitions and oral traditions past down. Many versions from different states. Most categories covered from babies, marriage, and death.

Principles of Economics, The Appendices Cover image

Principles of Economics, The Appendices by Alfred Marshall

Principles of Economics was a leading economics textbook of Alfred Marshall (1842-1924), first published in 1890. Marshall began writing the book in 1...

A Social History of the American Negro Cover image

A Social History of the American Negro by Benjamin Griffith Brawley

It explores the history of African Americans in America. The book was first published in 1921 and has since been regarded as one of the most significa...

Reviews for Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 2

No reviews posted or approved, yet...