Robert Rives La Monte

Born in 1867 and dying in 1950, Robert Rives La Monte was an American socialist writer whose work appeared in the early 20th century. He wrote on socialism, history, and ethics in a direct, argumentative style that still feels energetic today.

La Monte is especially known for Socialism: Positive and Negative and for Men versus the Man, a published correspondence with H. L. Mencken. Some of the essays later collected in Socialism: Positive and Negative first appeared in periodicals including the International Socialist Review and Wilshire's Magazine, showing how active he was in the socialist press of his time.

Although he is not widely remembered now, La Monte had a clear gift for making political ideas feel urgent and personal. His writing offers a window into the intellectual fights of his era, especially the clash between socialism and individualism.