Propaganda, Edward Bernays
Propaganda, Edward Bernays
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Propaganda

Author: Edward Bernays, Mark Crispin Miller

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Unabridged: 4 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/25/2017


Synopsis

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”—Edward BernaysA seminal and controversial figure in the history of political thought and public relations, Edward Bernays pioneered the scientific technique of shaping and manipulating public opinion, which he famously dubbed the “engineering of consent.” During World War I, he was an integral part of the US Committee on Public Information, or 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 became the blueprint for the marketing strategies of future wars.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 regard to the organized manipulation of the masses.

About Edward Bernays

Edward Bernays (1891−1995) was an Austrian American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda and was referred to in his obituary as “the father of public relations.” He combined the ideas of Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter on crowd psychology with the psychoanalytical ideas of his uncle, Sigmund Freud. He was named one of the hundred most influential Americans of the twentieth century by Life magazine.

About Mark Crispin Miller

Mark Crispin Miller is the author of Boxed In: The Culture of TV, The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder, and Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform, among other books, as well as many articles and interviews. He is a professor of media studies at New York University, and his Substack, News from Underground, is devoted largely to the critical analysis of propaganda as it pervades our world today.

About Grover Gardner

Grover Gardner has recorded more than 650 audiobooks since beginning his career in 1981.  He's been named one of the "Best Voices of the Century" as well as a "Golden Voice" by AudioFile magazine.  Gardner has garnered over 20 AudioFile Earphones Awards and is the recipient of an Audio Publishers Association Audie Award, as well as a three-time finalist.  In 2005, Publishers Weekly deemed him "Audiobook Narrator of the Year." Gardner has also narrated hundreds of audiobooks under the names Tom Parker and Alexander Adams.  Among his many titles are Marcus Sakey's At the City's Edge, as well as Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and John Irving's The Cider House Rules.  Gardner studied Theater and Art History at Rollins College and received a Master's degree in Acting from George Washington University.  He lives in Oregon with his significant other and daughter.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Katie on February 23, 2012

Bernays argues that the manipulation of public opinion is necessary for a stable and well functioning society. I found just about every paragraph of this book to be disturbing... especially considering how much power and influence he had during his lifetime - remembered as "the father of public rela......more

Goodreads review by Keyo on November 30, 2020

Whatever and however you think about propaganda, will be completely changed after you read this short book. It is written 92 years ago, but still the concepts and the structure of what we today know as propaganda haven't changed. What tools they use to do it, how they do it, what platforms and mecha......more

Goodreads review by Mario the lone bookwolf on October 24, 2019

ENGLISH Laying of the foundation stone for manipulation techniques for politics, business, and interest groups This work, first published in 1928 by the guru of public relations work, seems deeply strange in that it offers the foundations for directing and influencing people to an interested public fr......more

Goodreads review by P.E. on May 18, 2021

His Master's Voice 'We Can Do It!' (aka Rosie the Riveter) Propaganda Poster, J. Howard Miller, 1943 'Daisy' Political Advertisement for LBJ, 1964 ---- This textbook has been written by one of the fathers of PR, marketing and mass advertisement. In this essay, Sigmund Freud's nephew develops the......more

Goodreads review by ☘Misericordia☘ on October 15, 2019

A bit dated PR manual.......more


Quotes

“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 US 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.” Library Journal

“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, American linguist, philosopher, and social activist