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  • The Madness of Crowds

  • Gender, Race and Identity
  • By: Douglas Murray
  • Narrated by: Douglas Murray
  • Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,557 ratings)

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The Madness of Crowds

By: Douglas Murray
Narrated by: Douglas Murray
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Publisher's Summary

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year
Updated with a new afterword by the author

'Douglas Murray fights the good fight for freedom of speech ... A truthful look at today's most divisive issues' Jordan B. Peterson

'[Murray’s] latest book is beyond brilliant and should be read, must be read, by everyone' Richard Dawkins

Are we living through the great derangement of our times?

In The Madness of Crowds Douglas Murray investigates the dangers of ‘woke’ culture and the rise of identity politics. In lively, razor-sharp prose he examines the most controversial issues of our moment: sexuality, gender, technology and race, with interludes on the Marxist foundations of ‘wokeness’, the impact of tech and how, in an increasingly online culture, we must relearn the ability to forgive.

One of the few writers who dares to counter the prevailing view and question the dramatic changes in our society – from gender reassignment for children to the impact of transgender rights on women – Murray’s penetrating book, now published with a new afterword taking account of the book's reception and responding to the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests, clears a path of sanity through the fog of our modern predicament.
©2019 Douglas Murray (P)2019 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

What listeners say about The Madness of Crowds

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Thank you for attacking these subjects Douglas.

If Douglas wasn't gay then he might be attacked for even contemplating some of these subjects. Being a white 'privileged'' male & not Trans, no doubt there will be plenty of other accusations. To those potential accusers, I recommend they read the book in it's entirety. "A brave assault on those that seem to find meaning by ranting on social media"

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8 people found this helpful

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A book of the moment

As the books title suggests, the internet and social media have truely enabled what may have been minority views previously, to be broadcast far and wide. This has brought with it keyboard warriors who are emboldened to drive a specific PC culture gone mad, and call out those who aren’t towing the relevant tribal line of the moment.

The book does an excellent job of bringing up the most current egregious examples of, typically far left wing, “wokeness” gone mad.

For the uninitiated, this book would be particularly enlightening to see the hypocrisy, inconsistency, and absurdity of many of the positions held by social justice groups in the modern day. The book also continually highlights the dangers each of the various examples brings with it, were society to adopt the views whole cloth.

One area I would have loved to have seen more time dedicated to is what as a society are we to do about all this. Murray does a great job of carrying the reader along narratively, however only devotes a small portion to what we should do next. Considering how much of a problem this extreme PC culture is having today on many aspects of a persons daily life, it seems there is ample ground (and appetite) to explore more deeply how we could dig ourselves out of this mess.

I certainly enjoyed the book, and Murray’s oral performance was engaging. I’d recommend the book most to those who either don’t see the problem being as big as it seems, or those who have brushed up against the social justice narrative but are confused about what’s going on more broadly.

For those who have been engaged with the subject area, and may already listen to podcasts like Joe Rogan, Sam Harris, Ben Shapiro, Eric Weinstein (all mentioned in the book), you’ll find a lot of familiar ground. Even then though, I still enjoyed the way all of the issues were wrapped together as a whole, and some of the interesting inconsistencies Murray highlighted that I’d never considered.

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7 people found this helpful

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Incredible

Douglas Murray would have to be one of the most interesting and important authors of our time. He has a unique and intelligent ability to uncover and unravel the trip wires being laid at the feet of humanity by those wanting to divide and conquer with brutish bullying and totalitarianism. With wit and depth he shows up the utter stupidity of the current zeitgeist delivering the clear and present danger that lies within acceptance of this world view. Humanity is at stake.

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Essential

Absolutely superb. A must listen for those wondering how we got to the strange place we are in. Can't recommend more highly.

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My first read of a Douglas Murray book

Tantalisingly controversial for a left leaner such as myself, but Mr. Murray presents his arguments carefully and at times, convincingly. Beautifully read (albeit a little snidely at times) and well written, this is a must read for woke inner city lefty Get Up blow ins and Sky News presenters, RWNJs and Murdoch aficionados alike. After a somewhat bleak litany of social ills he finishes the book thoughtfully leaving the reader feeling stimulated and contemplative, itching to get deep and meaningful at the next dinner party. Warning - you may hate him.

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At least I tried

Tedious rehash of right wing ideology which we are apparently supposed to take a bit more seriously because the author is gay.
Moments of insight are few and far between. This is what Christopher Hitchens would have been like if Hitch had been dropped on his head as an infant.

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Probably the most sensible book I have read in a long time.

Thank you for this book. Thank you for emphasising the importance of critical thinking and civil discourse in a social media driven digital world that is becoming ever more polarised, a world that is increasingly ruled by the mob, and where many are not given a voice, particularly if they don’t pick a side.
I only hope that enough people read this book to make a difference so that respect for each other and our differences, protecting free speech and true freedom, giving credence to fact and empirical evidence, to be able to listen to each other and to simply be kind to one another become the norm.

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First audiobook I have ever deleted

This author clearly has some fixed and negative views on a range of topics. He uses various cherry picked sources and historical events to construct support for his right wing views. A book that draws such simple firm conclusions on complex topics should be read with suspicion. I support reading alternative views - but this is just contrived shit to support his own limited view of the world.

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Brilliant

An extremely relevant read in 2020. I can't stress enough that anyone interested in the changes happening and being pushed by the 'woke' crowd should read this book

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Finally someone had the guts to say something

I feel inspired to stand up against the so called bullies. Yeah, the water's not that cold after all

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