Bucket of Blood, The Ragman's War [Hardcover]

R. Sukle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 18, 2003

"Bucket of Blood" is what a coal town was called when bloodshed occurred to establish a worker's union. During the 1927-1928 strike in the western Pennsylvania coalfields, Russellton became known as such a place. In an effort to break the strike, special Coal and Iron Police were brought into the area to evict the mine families from their company houses. These men imposed unconstitutional restrictions to harass the people and keep out relief workers and organizers. It was a time of brutal beatings, rape, and murder.

Without union representation, the workers were constantly exploited. Because the company used many weapons to keep them enslaved, the miners' families were forced to live in abject poverty. The miner had only one weapon, the strike.

Bucket of Blood: The Ragman's War chronicles the depravation and indignities suffered by the families in the Russellton camps during the strike. Author R.S. Sukle explores the glimmers of hope appearing through relief efforts by the sons of a local farmer who become union activists.

Ragman, a mine mechanic, walks out with the other men. Against his intentions, he is drawn into the struggle by his brothers, and the abuse that is heaped on his family by the Coal and Iron Police.

The killing of a state Coal and Iron Policeman in Russellton is a local legend. The killer was never identified. This story has been passed down in certain families, each with their own version. Each claims the killer as a relative. Bucket of Blood is one of those stories.

Editorial Reviews

Review

... A comparison comes immediately to mind: The Grapes of Wrath of the coal mines. -- A review by Jack P. Wise B.S., M.S.

...The Ragman's War recounts a shameful piece of our past ... a hard one to read. -- BOOKLOONS: Reviewer: Mary Ann Smyth

...The reality is worse than the fiction, and prompts the reader to want to know more... -- Daily News, McKeesport, PA - Reviewer: David Sallinger

...With dialogue, scenes, she enters the stressful family lives of the miners and their wives... -- THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW - Reviewer: Henry Berry

...she makes her story readable and her characters believable. -- BookPleasures.com: Review by John Walsh

Sukle’s book is well researched and her dialogue rings true ...It is a praiseworthy effort ... -- Women Writer's Review: Review by Barbara Bamberger Scott

From the Author

BUCKET OF BLOOD THE RAGMAN’S WAR is about the oppression of the working class and the resulting 1927-1928 Miners Strike in the western Pennsylvania coalfields.

The strike lasted almost sixteen months and involved over 150,000 miners and their families who where put out of their homes, denied civil rights, and subjected to extreme brutality at the hands of Coal and Iron Police. Thousands died! As a result of a federal investigation the National Industrial Recovery Act was drafted. Defeated in 1928, it passed in 1933 yet the strike was poorly documented and censored into obscurity.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 268 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (December 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595661378
• ISBN-13: 978-0595661374
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ragman's War a masterpiece, February 13, 2004

By 

"kahauke" (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bucket of Blood, The Ragman's War (Hardcover)

: Bucket of Blood: Ragman's War illustrates survival strategies in a family and in a desolate coal-mining community hidden in the hills of Russellton, Pennsylvania, in 1927. Initiative saves lives as two brothers, sometimes four, link skills and ideas to keep strikers from freezing or starving when coal mine and railroad owners unite to evict them from their company houses and beat them as a method of control of the mines. S. R. Sukle, in vivid dialogue, a dramatic story line and ndiscerning description, has caught a time in the mines and on the surrounding farms which tested endurance. The hardiness of the immigrant valley denizens, family love, and the necessity for union organizing permeate the novel. Particularly touching is the German mother who rises first in the pre-dawn to heat the kitchen and brew the coffee before her sons set out each day to save their fellows. Both humorous and poignant is the father who bunks in the barn with the animals during a flu epidemic. IUniverse has published an insightful chronicle of an experience of our forefathers and mothers that we in our comfortable, 21st century lives, can scarcely imagine. Reading Bucket of Blood: Ragman's War will help us imagine the triumphing stock from which many Americans came.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Work of Respect, March 25, 2004

By 

Laura Lincoln (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bucket of Blood, The Ragman's War (Paperback)

I am amazed at how lucky we are to live in today's world. Bucket of Blood gave me an understanding of the hardships families had to face during the miner's strike in Pennsylvania. I could actually feel the cold and pain that the families felt and the anger expressed toward the Coal & Iron police. This was a part of history I now understand helped me realize how lucky I am to live in the world as it is today.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History Illuminated, February 12, 2004

By 

Cici Vesce (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bucket of Blood, The Ragman's War (Paperback)

In Bucket of Blood, Sukle has written a fast-paced story of the turmoil and violence surrounding a 1927-1928 Miner's strike in Western Pennsylvania.In a well-written and entertaining fashion the story illuminates an important and nearly forgotten struggle in American history for Fair Wages and Fair Working Conditions. More importantly, Sukle illuminates the human heart and the strength of character shown by people in challenging conditions. The author's family history with the early union in the area gives this novel an authentic voice. I strongly recommend this book.