Extraordinary Popular Delusions: Complete Edition - Volumes I, II & III

A timeless study of mass psychology and human folly, Extraordinary Popular Delusions by Charles Mackay remains one of the most insightful and enduring works ever written on the madness of crowds and the contagion of belief. First published in the mid-nineteenth century, this complete three-volume edition gathers Mackay’s classic accounts of the financial manias, superstitions, cults, and social obsessions that have shaped history—from the Dutch Tulipomania and the South Sea Bubble to witchcraft, alchemy, and the crusades of fashion and fame.

With elegant wit and moral clarity, Mackay reveals how entire societies can be swept away by irrational enthusiasm and collective illusion, reminding readers that the forces of greed, fear, and imitation are as old as civilization itself. His work stands as both a brilliant chronicle of past delusions and a cautionary mirror for modern times, where the same passions continue to drive speculation and belief.

Equal parts history, psychology, and satire, this monumental study endures as a masterpiece of critical thought and cultural observation, indispensable to anyone seeking to understand why reason so often yields to the madness of the multitude.

Complete three-volume edition of Charles Mackay’s landmark study on mass delusion and crowd psychology

Chronicles history’s great manias, superstitions, and speculative frenzies

Blends social critique, economic history, and moral philosophy

Essential for readers of psychology, history, economics, and human behavior