Toward a cooperative commonwealth: the transnational roots of farmer-labor radicalism in Texas: by Thomas Alter II, Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 2022, 298 pp., US$125 (cloth) 978-0-252-04428-1, US$28 (paper) 978-0-252-08636-6.

"Toward a cooperative commonwealth: the transnational roots of farmer-labor radicalism in Texas" by Thomas Alter II explores the life of E.R. Meitzen, a child of Silesian refugees and a lifelong advocate of socialism and land reform. The book highlights the transnational roots of agrarian socialism in the late nineteenth century and the emergence of the Socialist Party in Texas as an agrarian coalition challenging the Southern Democratic Party. It also discusses the cooperation between Texas socialists and Mexican revolutionaries, the impact of agrarian socialists on the Democratic Party, and their role in the New Deal coalition. The book offers valuable insights into the history of American farmers' involvement in the Socialist Party and raises questions about the definition of socialism in the United States. [Extracted from the article]