{"product_id":"true-believer-7","title":"True Believer","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Its theme is political fanaticism, with which it deals severely and brilliantly.”—\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e   A seventy-fifth anniversary edition of the enduring bestseller that offers “concise insight into what drives the mind of the fanatic and the dynamics of a mass movement” (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal)\u003c\/i\u003e by the legendary public intellect and San Francisco longshoreman. \u003ci\u003eThe True Believer \u003c\/i\u003eremains essential for understanding our world today.\u003c\/b\u003e   Eric Hoffer had no formal education and worked as a manual laborer throughout his life. He was also an astute social observer with a keen political eye who wrote philosophical treatises while working as a stevedore on the San Francisco docks and living in the railroad yards in the 1940s. \u003ci\u003eThe True Believer\u003c\/i\u003e was the first and most famous of his books. Published in 1951, his treatise on the nature of fanaticism was seen as a parallel to Machiavelli’s The Prince.   It became a bestseller after President Dwight D. Eisenhower cited it during one of the earliest televised press conferences. A decade later, Hoffer was featured on public television in two one-hour conversations on CBS with legendary newsman Eric Severeid that led him to be recognized as a public philosopher in the mode of Joseph Campbell.   Called a “brilliant and original inquiry” and “a genuine contribution to our social thought” by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., \u003ci\u003eThe True Believer\u003c\/i\u003e was a landmark in the field of social psychology. Now three quarters of a century later, it’s as relevant as ever, providing a highly provocative look into the mind of the fanatic, as well as a fascinating study into what drives mass movements like fascism and communism, offering insight and understanding into how they happen.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Product","offer_id":57486719025496,"sku":"9780063566040","price":19.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/true-believer-7","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}