The Americans

As a psychologist and an innovator of experimental psychology, Hugo Mnsterberg was a powerful influence on thinking in both the medical and social arenas at the turn of the 20th century, developing practical applications of psychology to industry, medicine, education, the arts, and criminal investigation.

The Americans was written for German readers "to interpret systematically the democratic ideals of America" as a companion work to his American Traits (also available from Cosimo Classics), a scientifically minded appreciation of all things American written for an American audience from the perspective of a German immigrant.

This English-language translation, published in 1904, presents Mnsterberg's psychological analysis of "the philosophy of Americanism," an intriguing examination of the deeper impulses of American life as it stood at the beginning of the 20th century.

From the unique character traits that were driving the robust American economy in the pre-World War I period to the "self-assertion of women" that Mnsterberg celebrates even as he vastly underestimates it, this is a fascinating peek back at a moment in the history of a nation as it was embarking upon the extraordinary century that would be named for it.

Also available from Cosimo Classics: Mnsterberg's Psychology and Life, The Eternal Life, Science and Idealism, Psychology and Social Sanity, The War and America, American Traits, and Psychotherapy



German-American psychologist and philosopher HUGO MNSTERBERG (1863-1916) was professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1892 until his death. He was elected president of the American Psychological Association in 1898.