Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is Charles Mackay’s celebrated study of mass folly, first published in 1841. The Scottish author chronicles a remarkable array of manias, swindles, and collective delusions that have seized whole societies throughout history.
Among its most famous chapters are accounts of financial bubbles such as the Mississippi Scheme, the South Sea Bubble, and the Dutch tulip mania, alongside discussions of alchemy, witch hunts, prophecies, fortune-telling, and crusades. Written with wit and a keen sense of human gullibility, the book argues that people often think and go mad in herds. Long admired by economists, psychologists, and general readers, it remains a classic and entertaining exploration of crowd behaviour and the recurring patterns of popular irrationality.