The True Believer

The True Believer is an insightful study of how an individual becomes a fanatic. Written by a self-educated San Francisco dockworker who produced philosophical treatises in his spare time, The True Believer became a bestseller when President Eisenhower cited it during one of the first television press conferences.

This small manual on the nature of fanaticism is an invaluable guide to understanding zealotry and mass movements, and is as relevant today as it was when it was first published six decades ago.

Eric Hoffer was born in 1902. He was a manual laborer, working at a variety of jobs throughout the twenties and thirties before moving to San Francisco in 1941 to “help with the war” as a longshoreman. He remained at this job for twenty five years while spending his free time reading and writing books. He is the author of more than ten books, including The True Believer, The Passionate State of Mind, The Ordeal of Change, and The Temper of our Time. Hoffer died in 1983, the same year that he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“The True Believer glitters with icy wit ... bristles with deadly parallels ... It is a harsh and potent mental tonic.”—New York Times