Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 1
Charles Mackay
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The book chronicles and vilifies its targets in three parts: "National Delusions", "Peculiar Follies", and "Philosophical Delusions".
The subjects of Mackay's debunking include alchemy, beards (influence of politics and religion on), witch-hunts, crusades and duels. Present day writers on economics, such as Andrew Tobias, laud the three chapters on economic bubbles. (summary from Wikipedia)
Link to Volume 2 (14 hr 18 min)
Chapters
| Preface | 4:14 | Read by J. M. Smallheer |
| The Mississippi Scheme, Part 1 | 31:11 | Read by ink tree |
| The Mississippi Scheme, Part 2 | 31:48 | Read by MorganScorpion |
| The Mississippi Scheme, Part 3 | 39:20 | Read by MorganScorpion |
| The South-Sea Bubble, Part 1 | 46:39 | Read by hefyd |
| The South-Sea Bubble, Part 2 | 31:50 | Read by hefyd |
| The South-Sea Bubble, Part 3 | 31:39 | Read by hefyd |
| The Tulipomania | 21:11 | Read by David Higham |
| The Alchymists, Part 1 | 29:38 | Read by J. M. Smallheer |
| The Alchymists, Part 2 | 23:38 | Read by J. M. Smallheer |
| The Alchymists, Part 3 | 30:03 | Read by MorganScorpion |
| The Alchymists, Part 4 | 33:52 | Read by David Higham |
| The Alchymists, Part 5 | 38:49 | Read by Daniele |
| The Alchymists, Part 6 | 17:20 | Read by Janna |
| The Alchymists, Part 7 | 31:01 | Read by MorganScorpion |
| The Alchymists, Part 8 | 12:35 | Read by Janna |
| The Alchymists, Part 9 | 28:47 | Read by J. M. Smallheer |
| The Alchymists, Part 10 | 40:12 | Read by Scotty |
| The Alchymists, Part 11 | 38:01 | Read by Scotty |
| The Alchymists, Part 12 | 21:38 | Read by Scotty |
| The Alchymists, Part 13 | 40:23 | Read by MorganScorpion |
| Modern Prophecies, Part 1 | 29:23 | Read by Anna Simon |
| Modern Prophecies, Part 2 | 23:19 | Read by Anna Simon |
| Fortune-Telling, Part 1 | 30:11 | Read by Anne Cheng |
| Fortune-Telling, Part 2 | 23:14 | Read by Anne Cheng |
| The Magnetisers, Part 1 | 37:33 | Read by Maire Rhode |
| The Magnetisers, Part 2 | 37:00 | Read by Andrew Coleman |
| The Magnetisers, Part 3 | 33:55 | Read by MorganScorpion |
| Influence of Politics and Religion on the Hair and Beard | 20:20 | Read by Laura Caldwell |
Reviews
Please make Volume 2!
kailuakeith
Great treatment of this classic work which is significant now during a terrible period of worldwide disinformation, sentiment manipulation by Russians and the whole hearted consumption by falsehood believing masses.
An excellent book about conmen taking whole cities, or even countries, on the l…
Timothy Ferguson
THe book's title sounds a bit academic, but its about grand capers and conmen. It's like Enron and the Wall Street bailout, with some of the high-class grifters who used ot pretend to turn lead into gold. I'm really glad to have listened to this book. It's well read, and fascinating.
Classic work marred by poorly prepared reading
mafinokc
J.M. Smallheer, for example, in addition to having inconsistent enunciation, seems ignorant of obvious things, e.g., that “shew” is an old spelling of “show”; she pronounces it “shoe”! She also doesn’t know, and hasn’t bothered to learn, the correct pronunciation of Latin or French words, phrases or names, or the names of Europeans mentioned, or Arabic or Hebrew words or names.
the history of unscientific thinking
agathe
or of the con game. I found it very interesting. all readers did a good job, Thank you! I'm going to read the recently released AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE after finish vol. 2. it looks like it will make a good pairing.