The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind - Softcover

Le Bon, Gustave

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140045317 ISBN 13: 9780140045314

Publisher: Penguin, 1977

Synopsis

Gustave LeBon's The Crowd is not only a classic, but one of the best-selling scientific books in social psychology and collective behavior ever written. Here, LeBon analyzes the nature of crowds and their role in political movements. He presents crowd behavior as a problem of science and power, a natural phenomenon with practical implications. Originally published in 1895, LeBon's book was the first to expand the scope of inquiry beyond criminal crowds to include all possible kinds of collective phenomena. Its continuing significance is evident even in the Los Angeles riots of 1992 in which LeBon's theories were cited in testimony.

About this title

Review

"Insightful for its apprehension of the primitive nature of crowds..."

About the Author

Gustave Le Bon (1841 -1931) was a French social psychologist, sociologist, and amateur physicist. He was the author of several works in which he expounded theories of national traits, racial superiority, herd behavior and crowd psychology. His work on crowd psychology became important during the first half of the twentieth century when it was used by media researchers such as Hadley Cantril and Herbert Blumer to describe the reactions of subordinate groups to media.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140045317
• ISBN 13: 9780140045314
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256