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The Myth of Red Texas: Cowboys, Populism, and Class War in the Radical South
In blood-red states such as Texas, politics operates under the fallacy that these places were always conservative, so that it would be foolish, even utopian, to propose a progressive alternative. The Myth of Red Texas, David Griscom’s debut book, reassesses this misconception, arguing that the Lone Star Left must embrace its hidden past to reach a brighter future.
Cowboys on strike, socialists on the ballot, farmers fighting tooth and claw for what they termed the “cooperative commonwealth”—Texas was once a wellspring of radicals hell-bent on taking power from the robber barons who ruled the day. With a careful eye for history, Griscom demonstrates how Texans’ left-wing parties, from the populists to the socialists, organized against the Right and often won—and how reclaiming that tradition can help today’s Left break the political deadlock in Texas and beyond.
Cowboys on strike, socialists on the ballot, farmers fighting tooth and claw for what they termed the “cooperative commonwealth”—Texas was once a wellspring of radicals hell-bent on taking power from the robber barons who ruled the day. With a careful eye for history, Griscom demonstrates how Texans’ left-wing parties, from the populists to the socialists, organized against the Right and often won—and how reclaiming that tradition can help today’s Left break the political deadlock in Texas and beyond.
238 pages, Paperback
Published April 14, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 28, 2026
i enjoyed this book a lot as a primer to socialist and populist organizing in my home state! however, something i did not like about this book as someone deeply involved in organizing back home is its equivalent of real, organized movements with demsoc campaigns. the solution is not a candidate! you have people today like the john brown gun club showing up in arms to defend drag shows and abortion protestors, community gardens doing free, home-grown grocery delivery in oak cliff, and more. the spirit of these organizers is alive and well, and it was inspiring to read how intrinsic that is to the history of the lone star state.
Want to Read
March 24, 2026A taste of it here: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/u...
May 3, 2026
I found this to be a great primer on populist and socialist movements in Texas. It left me wanting to study more about these movements, and the men and women who fought for the rights and lives of Texas workers.
May 7, 2026
Ok so I do think this is a very important book that highlights Texas' leftist political history, however I felt the execution to be a bit drab. I've read plenty of other non-fiction/history books that did a fantastic job setting the scene, drawing in the audience, and keeping the reader engaged while still hitting all of the important historical facts. The Myth of Red Texas, however, read to me like a very long wikipedia-style article that was rooted in getting as many facts across as possible without the additional structuring that keeps a reader engaged and interested.
Because I was personally invested in learning this subject matter and this part of Texas' history, I pretty much made myself finish this book, and I did learn a lot. Kudos to the author for taking the time to research all of this and put together this book at all, but based on the description of the book: "Cowboys on strike, socialists on the ballot, farmers fighting tooth and claw for what they termed the “cooperative commonwealth”—Texas was once a wellspring of radicals hell-bent on taking power from the robber barons who ruled the day." - this sounds so exciting! - I really thought there would be more examples and descriptions of events to keep the story of history more engaging. If I had randomly come across this book with no personal investment as a Texan, I probably would have DNF'd it, if I'm being completely honest.
Another part of the publicly available book description that I felt rang untrue was this line, "Texans’ left-wing parties, from the populists to the socialists, organized against the Right and often won" - specifically the "and often won." After finishing this book, I would be hard pressed to go back through the history given by Griscom and find examples of the leftists who "often won." I remember more than anything reading this book and feeling defeated about the fact that even though so many individual Texans held leftist/socialist values, the larger corporations and better funded political groups were in fact the actual ones who "often won", and are the ones still winning today.
Side note - I purchased a digital copy directly from OR Books on their website, and the copy I received felt unfinished/in need of additional editing. There were typos, formatting issues, and repeated words/phrases that made the edition I received feel unpolished and like this wasn't supposed to be the final product.
Because I was personally invested in learning this subject matter and this part of Texas' history, I pretty much made myself finish this book, and I did learn a lot. Kudos to the author for taking the time to research all of this and put together this book at all, but based on the description of the book: "Cowboys on strike, socialists on the ballot, farmers fighting tooth and claw for what they termed the “cooperative commonwealth”—Texas was once a wellspring of radicals hell-bent on taking power from the robber barons who ruled the day." - this sounds so exciting! - I really thought there would be more examples and descriptions of events to keep the story of history more engaging. If I had randomly come across this book with no personal investment as a Texan, I probably would have DNF'd it, if I'm being completely honest.
Another part of the publicly available book description that I felt rang untrue was this line, "Texans’ left-wing parties, from the populists to the socialists, organized against the Right and often won" - specifically the "and often won." After finishing this book, I would be hard pressed to go back through the history given by Griscom and find examples of the leftists who "often won." I remember more than anything reading this book and feeling defeated about the fact that even though so many individual Texans held leftist/socialist values, the larger corporations and better funded political groups were in fact the actual ones who "often won", and are the ones still winning today.
Side note - I purchased a digital copy directly from OR Books on their website, and the copy I received felt unfinished/in need of additional editing. There were typos, formatting issues, and repeated words/phrases that made the edition I received feel unpolished and like this wasn't supposed to be the final product.
March 29, 2026
David Griscom presents a well researched and well written history of populism, socialism, and labor movements in Texas. Although those movements were defeated in their day, he manages to instill a sense of hope that modern-day Texans can join together and rise up to defeat the capitalist upper class that is the true enemy of working class people. My only complaint is that I wish the book was longer, but it has inspired me to dive deeper into a history that I knew very little about.
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March 31, 2026highly recommend to all leftist texans! and even others! while not always totally uplifting, it’s powerful to remember that the past does not equal conservativism and that there has always — and everywhere — been a fight for equality and worker’s rights.
April 20, 2026
I'm a huge fan of OR Books and regularly pick up their newest books. _The Myth of Red Texas_ fits what I like about them, challenging my view of history with new insights. In my readings about the Southwest, Texas is a combination of numerous cultural types, with the Deep South as the dominate faction today. But Texas is big & like other states there are major differences between areas. This book highlights the Populist & Socialist movements within the state of Texas in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
The author provides the background on the conditions that brought the Populist & Socialist parties forth within Texas. One is the out-of-state corporations turning farmers into serfs. The other is the Democratic party acting like tinpot dictators, rigging elections and beating up anyone that didn't vote the way they wanted you to. The South at this time was more like a separate country that took laws under advisment. It wasn't pretty. The farmers and railroad workers banded together in their organizations to change things. Of course the corporations, politicians, and police didn't like the people standing up for themselves. Collectivism goes against Deep South individualism and capitalist desire to squeeze as much as they can out of the poor.
I didn't realize the Populist movement started in Texas. I also didn't know that the Socialist party was stronger in Texas than other places. I mainly knew of the Socialist party in the East. Namely through the work of Helen Keller (she of The Miracle Worker, which short changes Keller's accomplishments, including getting a college degree, founding the ACLU, and advocating for worker's rights around the world). But seeing it from the point of view of the Texas farmers, continually ground down due to the political machine that had a grip on the state, was eye opening.
The author points out that the major movements may have been crushed, but the spirit of what was accomplished is still around. Today corporations continue to cause farms to collapse, all in the pursuit of more money. But as a song by Aurora says, you can't eat money. There is hope in the background waiting for a time where the current leadership of the state is broken due to their corrupt policies.
The author provides the background on the conditions that brought the Populist & Socialist parties forth within Texas. One is the out-of-state corporations turning farmers into serfs. The other is the Democratic party acting like tinpot dictators, rigging elections and beating up anyone that didn't vote the way they wanted you to. The South at this time was more like a separate country that took laws under advisment. It wasn't pretty. The farmers and railroad workers banded together in their organizations to change things. Of course the corporations, politicians, and police didn't like the people standing up for themselves. Collectivism goes against Deep South individualism and capitalist desire to squeeze as much as they can out of the poor.
I didn't realize the Populist movement started in Texas. I also didn't know that the Socialist party was stronger in Texas than other places. I mainly knew of the Socialist party in the East. Namely through the work of Helen Keller (she of The Miracle Worker, which short changes Keller's accomplishments, including getting a college degree, founding the ACLU, and advocating for worker's rights around the world). But seeing it from the point of view of the Texas farmers, continually ground down due to the political machine that had a grip on the state, was eye opening.
The author points out that the major movements may have been crushed, but the spirit of what was accomplished is still around. Today corporations continue to cause farms to collapse, all in the pursuit of more money. But as a song by Aurora says, you can't eat money. There is hope in the background waiting for a time where the current leadership of the state is broken due to their corrupt policies.
May 22, 2026
David Griscom’s colourful and inspiring account of ordinary Texans taking on the states powerful elites over the course of decades and centuries provides a badly needed alternative history and image of a state that has been one of the most reliably conservative and more recently Republican for my entire life.
It is a political history book but Griscom has an easily accessible, folksy writing style that makes one feel as though they are reading and adventure novel wherein cowboys, timber workers, socialists and populists band together to take on mighty and occasionally colourful foes.
Unlike in adventure novels, in many of Griscoms stories the good guys do not always, if ever, triumph over the brutal forces of the government, big business and capitalism in general. However, the picture Griscom paints of ordinary people who take on impossible odds in order to better the lot of their fellow Texans provides and inspiring example to contemporary Texans and people beyond the state that socialist values, a socialist Texas and a socialist world are worth fighting for.
The book is slightly short, any one of the individual examples that Griscom focuses on could probably have been the subject of their own book. The book also stops the in depth analysis around the early 20th century and doesn’t study in depth the progression of Texas to becoming a deep red Republican state that it is known as today. I would have been interested to get Griscoms socialist analysis of this period of time. But if your only criticism of a book is you want more that is usually a sign of a good read.
In conclusion, The Myth of Red Texas is a colourful, inspiring, very readable and vital account of a radical tradition in a US state that the forces that be and the politics they represent would rather people forgot or didn’t know about. I hope it is widely read and inspires Texans to honour their socialist history and hopefully turn around the political fortunes of a state that has become a citadel of contemporary US conservatism.
It is a political history book but Griscom has an easily accessible, folksy writing style that makes one feel as though they are reading and adventure novel wherein cowboys, timber workers, socialists and populists band together to take on mighty and occasionally colourful foes.
Unlike in adventure novels, in many of Griscoms stories the good guys do not always, if ever, triumph over the brutal forces of the government, big business and capitalism in general. However, the picture Griscom paints of ordinary people who take on impossible odds in order to better the lot of their fellow Texans provides and inspiring example to contemporary Texans and people beyond the state that socialist values, a socialist Texas and a socialist world are worth fighting for.
The book is slightly short, any one of the individual examples that Griscom focuses on could probably have been the subject of their own book. The book also stops the in depth analysis around the early 20th century and doesn’t study in depth the progression of Texas to becoming a deep red Republican state that it is known as today. I would have been interested to get Griscoms socialist analysis of this period of time. But if your only criticism of a book is you want more that is usually a sign of a good read.
In conclusion, The Myth of Red Texas is a colourful, inspiring, very readable and vital account of a radical tradition in a US state that the forces that be and the politics they represent would rather people forgot or didn’t know about. I hope it is widely read and inspires Texans to honour their socialist history and hopefully turn around the political fortunes of a state that has become a citadel of contemporary US conservatism.
May 9, 2026
What an amazing book. As a veteran of the pathetic high school classes on Texas history, this book scratched an itch I didn't even know was there. So many of the stories in this book of the early labor unions and working class cooperation were utterly new to me, and I'm glad to have finally learned the names of our foremothers and forefathers in class based resistance here at home. David Griscom writes in such an engaging manner that it was honestly hard to put the book down when life and other responsibilities interrupted. I cannot wait to see what he writes next.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Fantastic account of leftist politics in Texas.
May 29, 2026
I felt like I was flexing my APUSH muscle again, definitely interesting but not enough narrative with the non-fiction.
June 9, 2026
At times feels lacking in substance, but it paints a picture of Texas history that is desperately lacking in our classrooms.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews