This classic work on the psychology of socialism carries for this edition a slightly refurbished title. By calling it The Psychology of Marxian Socialism, the work is sharply distinguished from an earlier work of the same title (written at a much earlier time) by Gustave LeBon. This book was written in the post-Bolshevik revolutionary era, at the height of the Weimar democracy in Germany; LeBon’s represents a fin de siècle effort, reflecting earlier concerns in socialist theory. De Man’s work derives its strength from a close and hard look at how socialism operated in one country. It is probably one of the greatest such efforts in the post-World War I period.
