Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 1


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.6 stars; 31 reviews)

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!


(5 stars)

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…


(5 stars)

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


(3.5 stars)

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


(4.5 stars)

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.