Radicalism in the Mountain West, 1890-1920
Radicalism in the Mountain West, 1890-1920
Socialists, Populists, Miners, and Wobblies
Focusing on the populist and socialist movements, David R. Berman sheds light on American radicalism with this study of a region that epitomized its rise and fall. As the frontier industrialized, self-reliant pioneers and prospectors transformed into wage- laborers for major corporations with government, military, and church ties. Economically and politically stymied, westerners rallied around homegrown radicals such as William "Big Bill" Haywood and Vincent "the Saint" St. John and touring agitators such as Eugene Debs and Mary "Mother" Jones. Radicalism in the Mountain West tells how volleys of strikes, property damage, executions, and deportations ensued in the absence of negotiation.
Drawing on years of archival research and diverse materials such as radical newspapers, reports filed by labor spies and government agents, and records of votes, subscriptions, and memberships, Berman offers Western historians and political scientists an unprecedented view into the region's radical past.
Berman presents a comprehensive monograph that synthesizes the work of other historians and adds to it with ample archival research all with the Intermountain West. . . . Few historians have given Mountain West populists such thorough attention and Berman should be commended for that.'
—Greg Hall, Western Historical Quarterly
The author deserves generous thanks not only for the information presented in this book but also for the possible effect of prompting readers to think about and compare bipartisan efforts in Congress which blurred the lines between the left and the right in the past with similar efforts today. When reading or using a book like Radicalism in the Mountain West, you can feel confident you're in the competent hands of a master of his subject.'
—Virginia McConnell Simmons, Colorado Central Magazine
Berman's highly readable text makes this an engrossing look into a fascinating chapter in American History and an important addition to the library of homegrown leftist political science. '
—Bill Cunningham, Southwestern American Literature
