Gustave Lebon - Psychology of Socialism. Gift book bound in leather.

In the book "Psychology of Socialism", G. Lebon examines socialism in political, economic and philosophical relations, placing special emphasis on the consideration of socialism as a belief, i.e. from the point of view of psychology. The author analyzes "the collision of socialist ideas with the reality of the existing social order, i.e. the collision of abstract ideas with the inexorable laws of nature." In his opinion, in order to understand the power of modern socialism, it is necessary to consider it primarily as a belief, which makes it possible to identify strong psychological reasons for its attractiveness.

The central theme of the book is, in modern terms, institutional dynamics: peoples inevitably have to obey traditions, and then be able to free themselves from them. The feelings and mental make—up of peoples play a decisive role here: few peoples had sufficient flexibility to satisfy the double condition of changeability and stability.

The economic part of the book is a rare document of the era: it describes the results of municipal socialism, which preceded centralized socialism, covering the whole country.

According to the well-known socialist Sorel, Lsbon's book "is the most complete work published in France on socialism, deserving great attention for the originality of the author's ideas, leading to the most serious reflections."