The True Believer

“Its theme is political fanaticism, with which it deals severely and brilliantly.”—The New Yorker 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” (The Wall Street Journal) by the legendary public intellect and San Francisco longshoreman. The True Believer remains essential for understanding our world today. 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. The True Believer 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., The True Believer 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.