Crowds and Power

Considered one of the great books of the twentieth century Crowds and Power was the work responsible for winning Elias Canetti the 1981 Nobel Prize.

From the destructive behaviour of soccer crowds to the horror of tyrannical rulers and from Bushmen and Pueblo Indian rain dances to the pilgrimage to Mecca, the author takes us on a fascinating journey through anthropology, psychology, biology, religion and literature. Ranging from the deeply profound to the overtly controversial – from the finger exercises of monkeys to the hallucinations of alcoholics -Canetti considers the Crowd and how it manipulates and reverses the fear of being touched; the Pack (and religion) the elements and entrails of power, command and execution, aspects of power, rulers, paranoiacs and survivors. He concludes that ‘If we would master power we must face command openly and boldly, and search for means to deprive it of its sting’.

This book will change forever the way you look at groups of people and the whole concept of power.