Eugene V. Debs Citizen and Socialist Nick Salvatore's book Eugene V. Debs Citizen and Socialist provides a very detailed account of the life and times of Eugene Debs. Debs was born in Terre Haute Indiana and Salvatore emphasizes the important role this played in Debs' upbringing. Terre Haute was ripe with religious fundamentalism since its founding. Religion permeated daily life in Terre Haute. Salvatore writes that, "In newspaper editorials, political speeches, civic dedications, and Sunday sermons they assured that the kingdom of God had already arrived and that their city was destined to become the center of Kingdom development in the Midwest." It is striking how the ideals of the Terre Haute community, based on religious fundamentalism and a strong industrial economy, provided a seemingly Marxist critique of the capitalist system in the 1860s, well before Marxist ideas spread widely in America. The social construction of Terre Haute was unique in that the undeniable American value of individual success was emphasized, but here the role of the community was necessary to achieve this goal. In Terre Haute it was believed that individual prosperity required the advancement of the community as a whole. Salvatore explains it best himself, writing: “The individual was firmly tied to his community both by the constraints of daily life and by expectations of future success. The ideas of individualism, self-interest and community seemed to merge.” This seemingly socialist ideology that man relies on himself and his brothers for progress and success was central to Debs' formation of his values ​​and ideologies. Even the superintendent of Terre Haute schools said this: "If we limit the education of the masses and rely on the education of the few for directive power and ability, we must expect to be governed by monopolies, demagogues, and partisans." Throughout his life Debs consistently drew on his Terre Hautian upbringing to reinforce his political values ​​that separated him from Milwaukee and the socialists of the Northeast. It is important to understand that Debs always had a passionate involvement with railroad workers and would always use his experience with them as a model and inspiration in carrying forward his later socialist ideals. Debs began his involvement with the labor movement when he took a job as a train fireman in Mi...... middle of paper ...... does an extremely good job of clarifying his points through the use of extreme detail and primary source documents. This book definitely provided an insight into American history that I didn't have before reading it. I always had the idea in my head that the socialist movement of the early 20th century wasn't very radical. This book has radically changed my point of view on this point. After reading it I now see exactly how revolutionary the ideas Debs was promoting at the time were. This book also conveyed to me the extreme importance of unions and the labor movement in politics during this time period. Unions definitely played a major role and I learned how politicians have to court unions very carefully to get their massive amount of crucial votes. Salvatore did a great job of conveying exactly how important unions were at this time in American history. Given Deb's important role in labor unions of the time, her role in American history is emphasized and clearly conveyed in this book. Until I read this I didn't realize exactly how important Debs was..