Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackayby Charles Mackay
Hacker ApprovedRanked 7 of 51 history books by recommenders
Recommended for its entertaining, encyclopedic accounts of mass manias like tulip mania and its witty writing. Caveat: it is not considered a reliable historical record, as it exaggerates and sensationalizes.
Recommended for its entertaining, encyclopedic accounts of mass manias like tulip mania and its witty writing. Caveat: it is not considered a reliable historical record, as it exaggerates and sensationalizes.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Entertaining, witty, and enjoyable to read
“It's almost encyclopedic in scope. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that the hilarious chapter on English slang of the time was my favorite.”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “My favorite nonfiction books about cults, scams, and schemes” “Excellent book. The high point for me was the enterprising fellow who set up a stall in London”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” “Very informative and a very enjoyable read.”
Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Tulip mania: when a single flower was worth more than a house” Fascinating account of crowd manias
“it's an absolutely fascinating book”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “Software Engineering Is Back” “absolutely fascinating book”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “Software Engineering Is Back” Still relevant to modern bubbles
“there are endless people saying 'it will never die and all the doubters are just wrong' before any big market crash.”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Neovim have a ~$800k Bitcoin donation sitting untouched since 2023” “The book has aged, but humanity hasn't”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Exaggerated and not reliable history
“it isn't considered a reliable historical record, a good amount of the book is exaggerated”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “My favorite nonfiction books about cults, scams, and schemes” “it famously embellishes, exaggerates, and sensationalizes the tulip bubble”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” “isn't considered a reliable source as it bases most of its story telling on satirical descriptions”
Comment from 19 Jul 2026 in “AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowdsby Charles MackayThis page | 11 | 2 | 85% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
12 of the 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“there are endless people saying 'it will never die and all the doubters are just wrong' before any big market crash.”
“it isn't considered a reliable historical record, a good amount of the book is exaggerated”
“It's almost encyclopedic in scope. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that the hilarious chapter on English slang of the time was my favorite.”
“isn't considered a reliable source as it bases most of its story telling on satirical descriptions”
“The book has aged, but humanity hasn't”
“The visual design of the actual online book/HTML is excellent.”
“it famously embellishes, exaggerates, and sensationalizes the tulip bubble”
“Excellent book. The high point for me was the enterprising fellow who set up a stall in London”
“Very informative and a very enjoyable read.”
“absolutely fascinating book”
“it's an absolutely fascinating book”
“This book loves to berate those who lived through mass hysteria and didn't notice”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.