Book Description
"Bernays' honest and practical manual provides much insight into some of the most powerful and influential institutions of contemporary industrial state capitalist democracies."-Noam Chomsky
A seminal and controversial figure in the history of political thought and public relations, Edward Bernays (1891-1995), pioneered the scientific technique of shaping and manipulating public opinion, which he famously dubbed "engineering of consent." During World War I, he was an integral part of the U.S. Committee on Public Information (CPI), a powerful propaganda apparatus that was mobilized to package, advertise and sell the war to the American people as one that would "Make the World Safe for Democracy." The CPI would become the blueprint in which marketing strategies for future wars would be based upon.
Bernays applied the techniques he had learned in the CPI and, incorporating some of the ideas of Walter Lipmann, became an outspoken proponent of propaganda as a tool for democratic and corporate manipulation of the population. His 1928 bombshell Propaganda lays out his eerily prescient vision for using propaganda to regiment the collective mind in a variety of areas, including government, politics, art, science and education. To read this book today is to frightfully comprehend what our contemporary institutions of government and business have become in regards to organized manipulation of the masses.
This is the first reprint of Propaganda in over 30 years and features an introduction by Mark Crispin Miller, author of The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder and Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order.
Propaganda FROM THE PUBLISHER
A fascinating and controversial look at how government and corporations control how we think and act, Propaganda outlines Edward Bernays's eerily prescient vision for regimenting the collective mind. Originally published in 1928, this manual of mass manipulation provides a detailed examination of how public discourse and opinion are shaped and controlled in politics, business, art, education and science. In a world dominated by political spin and media manipulation, Propaganda is an essential read for all who wish to understand how power is used by the ruling elite of our society.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Released in 1928, this was the first book that explored the use of propaganda as a government and business means of manipulating the masses. Bernays, the first public relations guru, was in charge of the U.S. Committee on Public Information, which had the task of designing an ad campaign to make World War I look like a good idea. Somehow it worked. He discusses that and much more here. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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