Crowds

Gerald Stanley LeeProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 952K words
Chapters: 96

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Crowds by Gerald Stanley LeeAuthor: Lee, Gerald Stanley, 1862-1944,Language: English, Class: HN: Social sciences: Social history and conditions, Social problems, Release Date: May 3, 2005

Editor's review

Crowds is a socially themed work by Gerald Stanley Lee, classified by Project Gutenberg under social history and conditions and social problems within the social sciences. This classification signals to readers that the book is concerned not with individual psychological techniques but with the relationship between crowds, social conditions and public life. Lee was born in 1862, and his writing reflects the social observation perspective of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, making this a free electronic text suitable for understanding the social thought of the English-speaking world at that time. The greatest value of the Project Gutenberg edition lies in easy access: readers can sample it at low cost and judge whether its style of argument suits their taste. When reading, it is advisable to treat it as a period document rather than a contemporary sociology textbook, and to distinguish judgments made in their historical context from today's research conclusions. For readers who wish to broaden their reading in the history of social thought, or who are interested in how the theme of "crowds" was discussed in early modern society, this book offers usable primary material. Since the available information provides no detailed table of contents or complete introduction, it is advisable to browse the chapter titles and opening paragraphs first before deciding how much to read closely.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in social history and social thought
Students who need free English-language social science texts for supplementary reading
Those studying early conceptions of crowds or social criticism writing
Readers who want a low-cost sample of a classic social-themed eBook

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking a systematic textbook on contemporary crowd psychology
Those who need extensive empirical data and reviews of modern research
Readers who are not comfortable with English originals and rely on Chinese translations

Reading tips

Browse the table of contents and opening first to confirm the author's angle on "crowds" before reading closely.
While reading, note the author's core judgments and compare them with contemporary sociological common sense.
Chapters related to public life and social problems can be read first.
If used as course supplementary reading, organizing notes alongside a timeline of social thought is more effective.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is Crowds a book about group psychology?

The information classifies it under social history and conditions and social problems, indicating that it leans toward social observation and social criticism rather than a modern textbook on group psychology. Readers should not expect experimental data or a systematic theoretical framework; it is better read as a text of early social thought.

Is this book suitable for beginners in sociology?

It can serve as supplementary reading, but is not recommended as the only introductory book. It offers an observational perspective from a particular era and lacks modern academic introductions and annotations. Beginners would do better to acquire basic sociological concepts first and read with an awareness of historical context, which will make the reading more rewarding.

What should readers note when reading the Project Gutenberg edition?

The Project Gutenberg edition is characterized by convenient free access and usually includes no modern scholarly annotations. Readers need to supply background knowledge themselves, note the differences between the author's era and the contemporary context, and avoid taking the book's historical judgments directly as today's research conclusions.

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About the author

Gerald Stanley Lee Author · American · 1862–1944

Gerald Stanley Lee (1862–1944) was an American writer, born in Brockton, Massachusetts, and died in Northampton. He was originally a Congregational minister and turned to full-time writing after 1896, focusing on the relationship between mass media, technological development, and democracy. His works, addressed to general readers, are argumentative and exhortatory in tone, often starting from everyday reading, machine civilization, and political life to reflect on the individual's situation and choices in modern society. His representative work, Crowds: A Moving-Picture of Democracy, was published in 1913 and became a bestseller; he also wrote The Lost Art of Reading, The Voice of the Machines, and The Ghost in the White House. Four of his works are held in the collection, commonly classified under inspirational growth. Because public information is limited, little is known about the details of his life, and scholarly attention has focused mainly on the social observation and writing style reflected in these works.