This is a hard book to review because it's dry af to read and probably only relevant to people like me who are tempted to start their own cult. Or, maybe it's relevant if you want to avoid my cult. I don't know.

The True Believer is a philosophy book from the 1940s. It talks about how mass movements start and what keeps them going. The author mostly focuses on Nazis in Germany and Communists in Russia because those were the largest mass movements of his time, but he also discusses religious conversion and how governments get overthrown.

The author has some interesting observations about how mass movements are all the same at their core. They all make vague promises about the future and attract frustrated people who want to change their lives. The movement gives people a sense of community and an enemy to blame for their problems. The frustrated people tend to bounce around to different movements because they can't find anything that cures their frustration.

My biggest issue with the book is right in the title. It's called "Thoughts" on mass movements. I really wish the author had backed up his thoughts with more evidence. I feel like he dismissed or ignored anything that didn't fit into his thesis. I wanted him to stop talking about Nazi and Communists and focus on movements that rocked the boat in less dramatic ways. I don't think this book is nuanced enough.

I don't know what to think about this one. I spent the whole thing wavering between bored, intrigued, and skeptical. It did give me a lot to ponder, though. I understand why this is a philosophy classic. I recommend it if you're interested in mass movements.