Obedience to Authority

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Stanley Milgram

HarperCollins, New York, 2009; originally published 1969, English

Nonfiction, General

ISBN: 9780061765216

From the Publisher. In the 1960s Stanley Milgram carried out a series of experiments in which human subjects were given progressively more painful electro-shocks in a careful calibrated series to determine to what extent people will obey orders even when they knew them to be painful and immoral—to determine how people will obey authority regardless of consequences. These experiments came under heavy criticism at the time but have ultimately been vindicated by the scientific community. This book is Milgram′s vivid and persuasive explanation of his methods.

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Chip Kidd

On Chip Kidd’s Book List

Milgram’s detailed account of his experiments of the title at Yale in 1961. For me these constitute one of the greatest feats of design in mid-20th century America, and inspired me to write The Learners, my second novel.

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