After graduating from college in 1979, Daniel Martin stuck his thumb out on Interstate 94 in St. Paul, Minnesota, hitchhiking east. He returned a year later, still hitchhiking east. While on that journey around the world, he read Charles Mackay's "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds," first published in 1841.

Mackay wrote about the tulip bulb mania and the poor sailor who mistook a priceless bulb for an onion and ate it for breakfast. He wrote about alchemy, which was practiced with all seriousness by great thinkers of the time like Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon. He wrote about the Crusaders who raped and pillaged their way to Jerusalem in order to save their souls. He wrote about witch burning, a popular delusion that at its peak killed more than five hundred women annually in England alone.

Daniel Martin was captivated by how relevant and relatable this history remained nearly two centuries later. Seventeenth-century tulip bulb markets bear a striking resemblance to today's cryptocurrency exchanges. Magnetizers and hypnotists still ply the back alleys of alternative medicine as they did two hundred years ago, but now they are accompanied by homeopaths, acupuncturists, and energy healers. Even in modern times, people still die from religious delusions like suicide bombing, Jonestown, and the Kenya Starvation Cult.

The idea of a sequel to Mackay's work percolated in the deep recesses of Daniel Martin’s brain for more than forty years and is finally now in print. The work includes volumes on Health Delusions, Financial Delusions, and Political, Cultural, and Religious Delusions.

Reading Mackay’s original work is not a prerequisite, and chapters may be read in any order. So pick your favorite delusion and enjoy!