Propaganda
Propaganda by Edward Bernaysby Edward L. Bernays
Shares rank 65 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
Bernays's 1928 book gives a behind-the-scenes view of how propaganda works, and people call it a good place to start.
Bernays's 1928 book gives a behind-the-scenes view of how propaganda works, and people call it a good place to start.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 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
Explains how propaganda works
“makes several compelling arguments that propaganda is omnipresent and difficult for the great part of public to counter”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “When Virality Is the Message: The New Age of AI Propaganda” “or Bernay's Propaganda (1928) at giving you that backstage at Disney world feeling.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds” Strong opening, good starting point
“One of the best opening sentences, from the book Propaganda by Edward Bernays”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “How elites could shape mass preferences as AI reduces persuasion costs” “Propaganda is a good place to start.”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “The turbulent AI era is here”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction 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 Cuckoo's Eggby Clifford Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| Propagandaby Edward L. BernaysThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Propaganda is a good place to start.”
“or Bernay's Propaganda (1928) at giving you that backstage at Disney world feeling.”
“makes several compelling arguments that propaganda is omnipresent and difficult for the great part of public to counter”
“several strategies executed by Trump that were outlined in Jacques Ellul seminal book”
“One of the best opening sentences, from the book Propaganda by Edward Bernays”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.