Customer Reviews

Days of Darkness: The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being a descendant of the Eversoles portayed in the French/Eversole feud, this book was like walking back into history and meeting them face to face. Wonderful job John.
Its no wonder you won the pulitzer price. I have recommended this book to everyone I know researching the families of Eastern Kentucky.

I am a genealogist that have family that came to central Kentucky from Clay County, Kentucky. I also made sure growing up, that the one article that I did not fail to read in the daily Louisville Courier Journal, was John Ed Pearce's article.
Most only know about the Hatfield-McCoy feud and do not realize that there were larger and more deadlier feuds. John Ed Pearce is the first writer of the feuds that allowed me to grasp the connection between the 100 years war in Clay County, and its negative effect on the social and economic development in this area, and why so many people migrated away from this area for better (and safer) opportunities to raise their families. Contrary to another reviewer, John Ed does an excellant job of weaving his storytelling skills with the research and oral interviews that he conducted for this subject and does not perpetuate but reports the facts of this era, whether you like the facts or not...they existed. When people are afraid to have a light on after dark in town for fear of someone shooting through the window, some sterotypes are reality. The hillbilly stereotypes were developed and perpetuated by the media, and is acknowledged by Mr. Pearce, and credited in photos that were staged of the Hatfield-McCoy feudists that were staged by a magazine photographer of the era. The interviews that he conducted personally would have never come to light if it had not been for Mr. Pearce and some of those he interviewed may have already passed. I am thankful that he had the contacts to find these interesting individuals and put down their story on paper.
I had the pleasure and honor to have a brief e-mail correspondance with Mr. Pearce during his retirement in Florida before he died, about some topics of interest to me in his book. One was about whether he had ran across any of my family line in his research, and the other was about Big Jim Howard. He wrote back: "No, I cant recall any mention of the Reams or Burdettes in my research for the Clay County feud. But I had few records to go on; most of what I used I got from word of mouth, plus a lot of newspaper accounts, especially the Hazel Green Herald, Cincinnati Post, Courier-Journal and files at the Filson Club and Historical Society, plus a few at the University of Kentucky library. Perhaps I encountered someof your people,. but didn't use them in the account and so lost memory of them. I wish I could help." He also responded in another e-mail that unfortunately had not found any other information on Big Jom Howard. He confided that he did not expect that we would ever know the full story of whether or not Big Jim shot the governor or not.
I read of his passing in the Louisville Courier Journal with great sadness. As I read the accolades of those recounting his many accomphishments, I thought to myself that his greatest accomplishment to me was his ablility in his writings to touch the average Kentuckian on their level, and this was no less typified in his taking the time to answer the questions of someone who had read his book and was left wanting to know more. If you are interested in the overall view of the feuds in Kentucky and their impact on the social and economic climate of the time, and how they impacted the migration into other areas of the state, you will want this volume in your collection. I have referred to it many times.

Being the descendant of the Eversoles It was great to see this book get the kind of coverage it recieved. Mr. Pearce has done a wonderful job by interviewing hundreds of descendants of the patriarchs of the feuds. It no wonder he received the pulitzer prize!!! I enjoyed the book a great deal and have recommended it to everyone I know doing Eastern Kentucky research.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. The author covers the feuds or wars of eastern Kentucky from the time the area was settled until the last of the feuds died out in the 1930's. I was somewhat familiar with some of them, some of them not so much. It covers the Hatfield McCoy feud though not in as much detail as other books dealing only with the one subject. It covers others in much more detail. For example the Clay County War lasted almost a full century from the start to the final acts. Honestly the Hatfield McCoy feud was fairly insignificant compared to some of the others but the Hatfield McCoy feud in it's final days caught the attention of the sensationalist, yellow newspapers of the day while the others didn't. This book gives good coverage to the ones that aren't well known. The author really gives a good flavor of life in the area during this time when eastern Kentucky had the highest murder rate in the country. Good church going, civic minded community leaders shooting each other from ambush. The author readily states that he was hard pressed to find heros in any of this. These feuds were not fought by ignorant, barefoot, backwoods hillbilles but for the most part by the leading citizens because they were mostly about money and power - revenge certainly played a role but money and power seemed to be the driver. It's a good reference work as well as a very entertaining read. The author writes with humor with such things as an election day being fairly calm with relatively few gun fights. The author freely says in many cases there are different versions of what happened in a particular instance. In some case he offers an opinion as to what happened. In others he simply states the different versions and that there seems to be no way to know now exacty what happened. If you're a history buff, it's a very enjoyable read and a good book for later reference.

it seems that there was and is always something to fight over in ky. first land and family to civil war and mining unions. this is a good book and exciting if you are from that region of the country.

Excellent book that seems to accurately cover most all the details of East. Kentucky feuds up to around 1900. I was surprised at the amount of lawlessness and violence in that area. Interesting how often the courthouses were scenes of shoot outs and killings.. often with the local law being part of one clan or another. All in all a great read that will also clear up a number of misconceptions and half-truths regarding the feuds of Eastern Kentucky.

This is good especially for anyone with a family history from southeastern Kentucky. It gives an insight to how people reacted to different situations and gives names of ancestors maybe long forgotten.

The book arrived, when I was told it would, in perfect condition, and exactly what I'd wanted.

This is a very compelling, honest look at the history of the Feuds that took place in Kentucky.Very well written and should be read by every person interested in State History.The names have not been changed and this book makes the area come alive, for good or bad.

I purchased this book, since it contained information about my Mother's family. It was interesting to read about this part of my family history, since we did not get a lot of information from her mother or grandfather. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the feudal aspects of Eastern Kentucky, and the different dynamics that took place.