"Modern propaganda is a consistent, enduring effort to create or shape events to influence the relations of the public to an enterprise, idea or group." -Edward Bernays
First published in 1928, Edward Bernays'
Propaganda may be the single most important work on public relations ever to appear.
Bernays (1891-1995), a nephew of Sigmund Freud, shaped the management of public opinion at a time when the modern media were beginning to take their present shape.
Propaganda today has a negative connotation, but Bernays uses the term in a neutral sense. Writing in the 1920s, he redefined what he called the "new propaganda" as public relations--a name that has stuck ever since.
Some of the details of Bernays' work may seem to have a quaint charm, like his discussions of women's hats and the length of skirts. Yet even the most casual reading reveals that the principles he sets out in this short but compelling book remain as true as ever in the present era of social media and AI.
Bernays is not a cynic or manipulator. He insists that public relations must make its case not in an exaggerated or dishonest way, but accurately and fairly. He stresses that public relations at its best influences mass opinion toward positive and uplifting ends. "We are proud of our diminishing infant death rate--and that too is the work of propaganda," he writes.
Indeed for Bernays, propaganda, or public relations, is intimately linked to a well-functioning democracy. "Today the privilege of attempting to sway public opinion is everyone's. It is one of the manifestations of democracy that any one may try to convince others and to assume leadership on behalf of his own thesis."
Democratic government is shaped and directed by public opinion. Bernays tells us that public opinion can be shaped in turn. Public relations is an overwhelmingly powerful tool, but one that should always be focused on the long-term advancement of society.
Today, when information and disinformation are so widely disseminated--and to such confusing ends--Bernays' shrewd, skillful, but ethical approach to managing mass opinion contains many lessons that need to be revisited and put to wider use.
This beautifully designed deluxe edition also includes Bernays' 1923 classic Crystallizing Public Opinion.
Bernays, Edward: - Edward Louis Bernays was an Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations." Bernays was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life.
Horowitz, Mitch: - One of today's most acclaimed voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult, Mitch Horowitz is a PEN Award-winning historian whose books include Occult America, The Miracle Club, Daydream Believer, Modern Occultism, Happy Warriors, and Practical Magick. A former vice president at Penguin Random House, Mitch has written on alternative spirituality for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, Time, and The Wall Street Journal. A frequent presence in national media, Mitch hosts Discovery/HBO Max's Alien Encounters; plays himself in Shudder's V/H/S/Beyond, a 2025 Critics Choice Award nominee for Best Movie Made for Television; and hosts SpectreVision's podcast Extraordinary Evidence: ESP Is Real. His work is censored in China.
Smoley, Richard: - Richard Smoley is editor of Quest: Journal of the Theosophical Society and former editor of Gnosis: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions. He has published eleven books, including Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism; Inner Christianity: A Guide to the Esoteric Traditions; and Supernatural: Writings on an Unknown History. He has spent more than forty-five years studying the world's mystical traditions.
