More than a century before Alan Greenspan coined the phrase -irrational exuberance- to describe the speculative bubble inflating technology stocks, Charles Mackay was recording the history of -tulipomania,- a speculative madness surrounding the value of tulips in the 18th century that was the ruin of many Dutch and English investors. This is only one of the -extraordinary popular delusions- documented by Mackay in a fascinating study of group psychology. He also describes notorious witch hunts, haunted houses, the Crusades, beliefs in fortunetellers and in the magical power of alchemy,...

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is the original guide to behavioural psychology - and how manias, follies and superstitions begin, spread and (eventually) pass. A hugely entertaining tour through financial scams and stock market bubbles, alchemical quests and prophecy wars, duelling bouts and relic hunts, the book is as insightful and memorable today as when it was first published over 150 years ago. This edition comes with an exclusive foreword by Russell Napier, author of Anatomy of the Bear. Harriman Definitive Editions offer the best quality editions of...