Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will pre-order your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships and Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a group.
Learn more

Buying and sending Kindle Books to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Choose delivery method and buy Kindle Books
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These Kindle Books can only be redeemed by recipients in your country. Redemption links and Kindle Books cannot be resold.

Added to

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Robert E. Bartholomew
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

A Colorful History of Popular Delusions (English Edition) Kindle Edition

English edition by Robert E. Bartholomew (Autor), Peter Hassall (Autor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 21 ratings
See all formats and editions
This eclectic history of unusual crowd behavior describes a rich assortment of mass phenomena ranging from the amusing and quirky to the shocking and deplorable. What do fads, crazes, manias, urban legends, moral panics, riots, stampedes, and other mass expressions of emotion have in common? By creating a typology of such behavior, past and present, the authors show how common extraordinary group reactions to fear or excitement are. And they offer insights into how these sometimes dangerous mob responses can be avoided.We may not be surprised to read about the peculiarities of the European Middle Ages, when superstition was commonplace: like the meowing nuns of France, "tarantism" (a dancing mania) in Italy, or the malicious anti-Semitic poison-well scares. But similar phenomena show up in our own era. Examples include the social-networking hysteria of 2012, which resulted in uncontrollable twitching by teenage girls in Leroy, NY; the "phantom bus terrorist" of 2004 in Vancouver, Canada; and the itching outbreak of 2000 in South Africa.Vivid, detailed, and thoroughly researched, this is a fascinating overview of collective human behavior in its many unusual forms.
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    366 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Prometheus
  4. Publication date
    13 Oct. 2015
  5. File size
    1016 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
Next slide of product details
Safety and product resources
Images and contacts

Safety and product resources

Images and contacts

Product description

Review

“A delightful and entertaining romp through false beliefs, tall tales, fads, crazes, and urban legends of all kinds. A Colorful History of Popular Delusions is a much-needed reminder that the human capacity for self-delusion is seemingly endless.
Enlightening and eye-opening—and great fun.”
—Scott O. Lilienfeld, PhD, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Psychology, Emory University
 
“Humans are a strange lot, and this book encapsulates that notion perfectly. Put a bunch of us on the same planet and we’ll come up with things that don’t even exist. From UFOs and monsters like Bigfoot, to mass hysteria involving tarantulas—this book takes a critical yet loving look at the utterly bizarre. Never mocking, but with a sense of fun, it puts a magnifying glass up to the stuff we think is real, but probably isn’t. Probably.”
—David Farrier, Journalist
 
“Vast, intriguing, and downright interesting. Robert E. Bartholomew and Peter Hassall take a no-nonsense tour of the world of fantasies, illusions, fallacies, disturbances, and deceptions. You will be enlightened more than you can imagine!”
—Loren Coleman, MSW, Author of Cryptozoology A to Z
 
“Scholarly enough for the researcher yet accessible enough for the interested layperson,
this book is a welcome and important addition.”
—Benjamin Radford, MEd, Discovery News columnist and coauthor of The Martians Have Landed! A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes

About the Author

Robert E. Bartholomew is the author of twelve previous books, most recently Mass Hysteria in Schools (with Robert Rickard), and more than sixty articles in professional journals, including the British Medical Journal and the International Journal of Social Psychiatry. He has been interviewed in the New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and on the History and Discovery channels. He is featured in an eight-part National Geographic series on UFOs. Bartholomew holds a PhD in medical sociology.

Peter Hassall is a researcher, writer, stuntman, and fight choreographer. He is the author of The NZ Files: UFOs in New Zealand and he has contributed a chapter to The Martians Have Landed! A History of Media Hoaxes and Panics by Robert E. Bartholomew and Benjamin Radford.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00U4W2EUS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prometheus (13 Oct. 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1016 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 366 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1633881229
  • Customer reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Robert E. Bartholomew

Robert E. Bartholomew

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Dr Robert Bartholomew is a medical sociologist who has published over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, The British Medical Journal, and The Medical Journal of Australia. He has worked as a journalist for several New York State radio stations, serving as news director twice, and is a former correspondent for WGY, Schenectady, one of the largest radio stations in the United States. He has lived with the Malay people in Malaysia and Aborigines in Central Australia. Robert has been interviewed in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New Yorker, on the History Channel, and in four episodes of a National Geographic series on mysteries.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
21 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Top reviews from Germany

There are 0 reviews and 0 ratings from Germany

Top reviews from other countries

  • darlene101
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on 10 December 2015
    Verified Purchase
    my husband is going to love this
    Report
  • driver
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on 20 January 2016
    Verified Purchase
    good price, fast delivery
    Report
  • Richard Love
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Info...Painfully Written
    Reviewed in the United States on 30 May 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Lots of interesting stories, facts and research is presented.

    Unfortunately, the author likes to end each chapter by telling the reader what's in the next chapter. Examples are also re-used in several places. The net result is that you feel like you're seeing the same info over and over which can be a bit painful to read.
    Report
  • HAROLD SEZ...
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read. Book dismisses all criminal activities such as ...
    Reviewed in the United States on 7 March 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Interesting read. Book dismisses all criminal activities such as the current "NYC Subway Slashing Epidemic" as delusions in the minds of the slash-ees. These days I guess one can dismiss most unexplained human activity as "delusional", especially politics, local to world.
    Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report