Gustave Le Bon's The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind
A turn of the century masterwork.
 
>>> sshulman <[log in to unmask]> 10/18 8:11 AM >>>
There is an essential book, Mr. Bray, if you have not already read it,
that may be of some help:
Crowds And Power - Canetti, Elias
 
Tim Bray wrote:
>
> As a well-read non-humanist in his 40s who has spent time in the third
> world and seen tribal hate at work, the problem I have with all the holocaust
> literature is that it fails to address my basic incomprehension as to how this
> could have happened.  I.e. how intelligent well-educated people (eg EP, nuts
> maybe, smart probably, well-educated definitely) can have thought such
> silly things and done such evil things?  The tribal hate I've seen could not
> survive in the absence of real immediate grievance (they killed my brother)
> and the presence of a decent education (history and ethics are complicated).
>
> So, on the assumption that people who agonize over EP know something about
> this subject, what would be a good recommendation for literature to address
> this basic incomprehension? -T.