Cowboys, Populism, and Class War in the Radical South
David Griscom’s debut book
With a Texas Senate seat potentially in play for the first time in a generation, there’s never been a better moment to pick up The Myth of Red Texas — the latest from Nation Books. Order your copy now for just $10 (e-book) or $20 (paperback).
Everyone knows Texas is a red state. Except — it wasn’t always.
Cowboys went on strike. Socialists won elections. Farmers built a mass movement demanding what they called the “cooperative commonwealth.” For decades, Texas was a hotbed of left-wing organizing that shook the robber barons who thought they owned the place.
That history has been buried. In his debut book, the talented young writer David Griscom argues that the assumption of permanent conservative dominance in Texas is not just wrong, it’s a political weapon — one that tells progressives their cause is hopeless before they’ve even begun to fight.
Griscom shows how Texans organized against the right and often won, and makes the case that reclaiming that tradition is exactly what today’s left needs to challenge Donald Trump.
As Seth Harp writes, it’s “essential reading for those reclaiming Texas from reactionary conservatism.”