`Author:` Robert E. Bartholomew and Peter Hassall `Availability:` ## Summary A Colorful History of Popular Delusions, by Robert E. Bartholomew and Peter Hassall, is ==a book that explores historical and modern examples of mass hysteria, fads, manias, and other collective behaviors, categorizing them to show how common such crowd reactions are==. It covers a wide range of phenomena, from medieval dancing manias and witch hunts to modern-day social media panics, offering insights into why groups can become irrational and dangerous.  ## Key Takeaways - **Subject matter**:  It examines unusual group behaviors like financial manias (e.g., Tulip Mania), moral panics, urban legends, and stampedes.  - **Examples**:  It includes historical events like the "meowing nuns" and "tarantism" in Europe, alongside modern cases like the "phantom bus terrorist" scare in Vancouver and social-networking-related hysteria in New York.  - **Authors' goal**:  The authors create a typology to explain the common threads in these extraordinary group reactions, providing context on how fear and excitement can lead to irrationality.  - **Genre**:  It falls under social history, social psychology, and sociology, offering a fascinating overview of collective human behavior. ## Quotes - ## Notes > [!info] > ![[Robert E. Bartholomew and Peter Hassall.jpeg]] ## Highlights `Concepts:` `Knowledge Base:`