Review of The Limits of Agrarian Radicalism: Western Populism and American Politics by Peter H. Argersinger

Authors

• Scott G. McNall, California State University, Chico

Date of this Version

October 1996

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in Great Plains Research 6:2 (Fall 1996). Copyright © 1996 The Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Used by permission. http://www.unl.edu/plains/publications/GPR/gpr.shtml

Abstract

Peter Argersinger is one of the best known and influential writers on American Populism. His clear, well-crafted pieces on the origins and eventual demise of the Populist movement are outstanding in their ability to help contemporary readers understand the turmoil and complexity of late nineteenth- century American politics. Those familiar with his writing will find The Limits of Agrarian Radicalism a compilation of previous work spanning a quarter century of scholarly effort with an entirely new chapter as a bonus. My personal favorite, "Road to a Republican Waterloo," explains why a third party farmer's movement triumphed over a well-entrenched Republican party in the Kansas election of 1890.