The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

· Sold by Harper Collins
4.5
22 reviews
Ebook
192
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

“Its theme is political fanaticism, with which it deals severely and brilliantly.” —New Yorker

The famous bestseller with “concise insight into what drives the mind of the fanatic and the dynamics of a mass movement” (Wall St. Journal) by the legendary San Francisco longshoreman.

A stevedore on the San Francisco docks in the 1940s, Eric Hoffer wrote philosophical treatises in his spare time while living in the railroad yards. The True Believer—the first and most famous of his books—was made into a bestseller when President Eisenhower cited it during one of the earliest television press conferences.

Called a “brilliant and original inquiry” and “a genuine contribution to our social thought” by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., this landmark in the field of social psychology is completely relevant and essential for understanding the world today as it delivers a visionary, highly provocative look into the mind of the fanatic and a penetrating study of how an individual becomes one.

Ratings and reviews

4.5
22 reviews
Samizdat Broadcasts
October 12, 2014
From ancient religions to industrial era creeds like nationalism and socialism to the post modern rise of fundamentalism, identity politics and conspiracy theories, the TRUE BELIEVER cannot be understood without Eric Hoffer's brilliant opus. More relevant now in our highly partisan and balkanized social media culture than ever.
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bill boyington
November 15, 2016
A brilliant man's observations of the "human condition". Explains the 2016 election results some 40 prior to the event.
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Sunil Chuttoo
January 25, 2017
The essays hold true of the past mass movements as they are for the current movements that we see in North America and other parts of the world today.
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About the author

Eric Hoffer (1902 -- 1983) was self-educated. He worked in restaurants, as a migrant fieldworker, and as a gold prospector. After Pearl Harbor, he worked as a longshoreman in San Francisco for twenty-five years. The author of more than ten books, including The Passionate State of Mind, The Ordeal of Change, and The Temper of Our Time, Eric Hoffer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983.

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