This was just in the NY Times, a day after Spook Country appeared on the bestseller list.

Norman Cohn, Historian

"In situations of mass disorientation and anxiety..." pop a Rize.

Link looks pay-wallish.

Is this the same guy?

Any opinions on why WG uses this book, this theme?

My initial, surface impression of Milgrim's reading material was as a way to compare the strangeness of now with the strangeness of another time. But that pond's deeper than that, I think.

I hadn't spotted the original post here, so there's a similar discussion over in Current events.

It's the same guy.

I'm about halfway through the book at the moment, and I've found it interesting, to say the least. It's an analysis of how in the middle ages, religious beliefs coupled with disorientating social pressures spawned cults whose leaders frequently claimed a God-given right to do absolutely anything they wanted - and why that behaviour was supported, and even encouraged by significant proportions of the population. Plus ca change...

best,
Chris H

Thanks, Chris. I'll post further comments over there.