Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

A timeless study on human psychology and human frailty, Scottish journalist Charles Mackay’s account of popular folly was first published in 1841. Presented in this volume are several chapters of Volume 1 of his three Volume work. The chapters presented here focus on economic bubbles, and how in the context of financial greed just how herding instincts can make even the strongest minds succumb to the pressures of the crowd and its opinions, regardless of the underlying sensibility or lack thereof.