Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Madness of Crowds. PLEASANTON, CA – JUNE 5: Protesters wear masks while attending a Black Lives Matter protest at Amador Valley Community Park in Pleasanton, Calif., on Friday, June 5, 2020. About 3,000 protesters gathered at Amador Valley.

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is an early study of crowd psychology by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay, first published in 1841 under the title Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions. The book was published in three volumes: “National Delusions”, “Peculiar Follies”, and “Philosophical Delusions”. Mackay was an accomplished teller of stories, though he wrote in a journalistic and somewhat sensational style.

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