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Cover of The Crowd

How long does it take to read The Crowd?

Gustave Le Bon

The Crowd by Gustave Le Bon takes about 3 hours 48 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 3 hours 48 minutes

A weekend read

First published 1896. 207 pages, about 56,925 words.

8 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 6 hours 20 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 3 hours 48 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 2 hours 22 minutes

The page count is the median across 54 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

"Gustave LeBon's The Crowd is not only a classic, but one of the best-selling scientific books in social psychology and collective behavior ever written. Here, LeBon analyzes the nature of crowds and their role in political movements. He presents crowd behavior as a problem of science and power, a natural phenomenon with practical implications. Originally published in 1895, LeBon's book was the first to expand the scope of inquiry beyond criminal crowds to include all possible kinds of collective phenomena. Its continuing significance is evident even in the Los Angeles riots of 1992 in which LeBon's theories were cited in testimony." "LeBon emphasizes the various areas of modern life where crowd behavior holds sway, particularly political upheavals. He focuses on electoral campaigns, parliaments, juries, labor agitation, and street demonstrations. At the same time, his treatment of crowds is far from complimentary. In a new introduction to this edition, Robert A. Nye presents a broad analytical understanding of the relationship between power and knowledge in crowd theory. He also discusses the historical circumstances and the various personalities who have shaped our understanding of crowds. Nye emphasizes The Crowd's continuing usefulness to cultural historians, psychologists, sociologists, and political scientists. He also places LeBon in a rich tradition of European social theory."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects: Collective behavior, Crowds, Foules, Social psychology

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