Talkin' Socialism

In this history of radical publishing at the turn of the century, Elliott Shore focuses on the ""Appeal to Reason"", the flagship newspaper of J.A. Wayland's publishing empire. As modern periodical publishing came of age with the appearance of the first mass-circulation newspapers and magazines, so too did both populism and socialism in the US. They drew strength from the same factors - the advance of technology, spreading industrialization, the growth and concentration of urban populations and rising literacy rates. Between 1900 and 1910 the circulation of ""Appeal to Reason"" grew to more than half a million, placing it among the nation's leading weeklies. Its editors and writers included such prominent figures of the socialist movement as Eugene Debs and Upton Sinclair. Published for 25 years in Kansas, is was the most successful socialist institution in the US, unifying the movement from coast to coast.