{"product_id":"the-crowd-gustave-le-bon-9791043137129","title":"The Crowd","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe\u003c\/strong\u003e world of the 18th and 19th centuries had been wracked by change and revolution. \u003cstrong\u003eGustave Le\u003c\/strong\u003e Bon, a doctor by trade but wandering philosopher by avocation, was a first-hand witness to one such revolution: the establishment of the \u003cstrong\u003eParis Commune\u003c\/strong\u003e in \u003cstrong\u003e1871\u003c\/strong\u003e, in which a crowd of mutinous \u003cstrong\u003eNational Guardsmen\u003c\/strong\u003e seized the city and established a socialist government for two brief months in what Engels called one of the first examples of a \"dictatorship of the proletariat.\"After that revolution, \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLe Bon\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e left to travel the world, developing his theories on the psychology of crowds. \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe\u003c\/strong\u003e Crowd\u003c\/strong\u003e is his distillation of that \u003cem\u003ephilosophy\u003c\/em\u003e, and one of the earliest treatises exploring the behavior and motivations of crowds of people.In it, \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLe Bon\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e posits that with the rise of democracy and industrialization, it's the unreasoning crowds who will control the affairs of the people, not kings or the elite; and these crowds are largely irrational in \u003cem\u003eaction\u003c\/em\u003e, conservative in thought, violent both in act and in speech, and easily hypnotized by individuals with prestige but not intelligence.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLe Bon\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e is ultimately cynical in how he views this development in human affairs. Individuals in crowds feel anonymous and powerful, leading to destruction and violence; and the susceptibility of crowds to pure charisma means that they're easily dominated by thuggish men of \u003cem\u003eaction\u003c\/em\u003e, not wise men of foresight. People in a crowd are \"a grain of sand amid other grains of sand, which the wind stirs up at will.\"His conclusion is that the increasing relevance and power of crowds in modern society will lead to negative outcomes in the long term. In his view, democracy can only lead to more and more violent crowds, who demand charismatic figureheads to give them meaning.As one of the earliest examples of the study of crowd psychology, \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe\u003c\/strong\u003e Crowd\u003c\/strong\u003e was a direct influence on many titanic figures in 20th century history, including \u003cstrong\u003eTheodore\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eRoosevelt\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eFreud\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eMussolini\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eLenin\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eHitler\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gustave Le Bon\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9791043137129\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Les Prairies Numeriques\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 220\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.66lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.50d","brand":"Gustave Le Bon","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48520291582207,"sku":"9791043137129","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0f72f0d2-8b5e-4262-87fd-7179136bcb98.jpg?v=1778741881","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-crowd-gustave-le-bon-9791043137129","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}