Humankind: A Hopeful History

Rutger Bregman begins by taking a close look at the human response to crisis, especially through the lens of the British experience during World War II. Bregman opens by citing Gustave Le Bon, a crowd psychologist who proposed that humans devolve into panic and chaos when faced with crisis. Le Bon’s book, Psychologie des foules (The Psychology of the Masses (1895)), served as a manual for leaders like Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin. Yet in the face of catastrophe, the British populace reacted to the German bombing campaign with resilience and a steady demeanor.

Hitler’s Luftwaffe bombings, or what came to be known as “the Blitz,” claimed more than 40,000 lives and decimated entire neighborhoods—throughout, a surprising calm permeated British society. Eyewitness accounts, such as that of Canadian psychiatrist Dr. John MacCurdy, detailed how people went about their usual activities despite the ruin and danger around them. Humor and resolve were abundant, contradicting the wartime propaganda and fears of leaders who predicted mass hysteria and societal collapse. Far from crumbling, public mental health even seemed to improve, with fewer instances of alcoholism and suicide than in peacetime.

Similarly, when the British RAF turned the tables by bombing German cities, the notion that breaking a nation’s morale through bombing was challenged yet again.