Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of... by Charles Mackay

Sooner or later – regardless of whether you want to or not – you’ll certainly come across a guy offering you a surefire way strategy to beat the market or, at least, some innovative investment plan that all but guarantees to make you rich. Which is not merely a testimony to the greatness of this book, but also an incredible indictment of humanity as well: have we learned nothing? Who Should Read “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”? And Why?

Once you finish reading it, you’ll realize that there’s actually neither anything extraordinary in any of the numerous popular delusions (yes, even tide pod eating) nor something other than madness in a crowd.

The impact of Mackays work has been remarkably far-reaching, influencing such fields as popular psychology and the stock market as noted by The New York Times, wrote: 'Any investor who has not read Charles Mackays 'Tulipomania,' from his classic Extraordinary Popular Delusions, first published in 1841, should grab this book for that exercise alone.Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds SummaryĬharles Mackay’s 1841 classic, “ Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” is just two decades shy of being two centuries old and it still reads as if it has been just published. Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is divided into three broad categories, including 'National Delusions,' 'Peculiar Follies,' and 'Philosophical Delusions.' The author discusses a wide variety of subjects and events, which include economic bubbles like the tulip craze of Holland in 1637 and the Mississippi Company financial bubble of 1719 alchemy, which was of particular interest to individuals who wanted to create gold out of lesser-valued materials the Crusades, also known as the Middle Ages mania witch hunts, the persecution of thousands of innocent victims that arose from either supernatural ill fortune or neighbors with a score to settle duels the political and religious influence on beards and several others. He served as president of the Pullman Company in the early 20th century and built a fine library. From the library of noted book collector Edward Francis Carry, with his bookplate. Bound in uniform three quarters leather, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, top edge gilt. Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.įirst edition of this classic study of crowd psychology, a compilation of human folly throughout the ages.

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of... by Charles Mackay