The rapid growth of monopolies, first in the railroads and then in basic industries such as oil refining and steel production, came as a shock to many Americans. As monopolies drove out small business by undercutting their prices, a deep-rooted suspicion of the concentration of wealth and power spread among American middle-class voters and consumers. During the 1880s and 1890s reformers offered a range of new solutions to the problem of rapid industrialization, hoping to restore a more harmonious balance between city and country, employers and employees, large and small businesses. Many hoped to distribute the nation's expanding wealth more fairly and to dilute the concentration of power in the hands of a few corporations. Two of these reform movements came from individuals whose best-selling books galvanized readers across the country.

Henry George and the Single Tax.

In 1871 Californian...