Customer Reviews

The Hatfields and the McCoys

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
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Much has been written of the feud yet in this book I found a "good read" along with a very historical study. Also inside the front and back covers you will find a family tree graphic to help you trace possible relations.

we are decendents of the hat fields and my dad has been doing research on them. I gave him this for Christmas and from what I hear he loves it and cant hardly put it down.

I was looking for a book to give me a factual narrative of the Hatfield-McCoy feud. I took a chance ont his book and was nicely rewarded. Heavily footnoted and scrupulously dispassionate, the book gives a clear and concise rundown of the events leading up to, during, and as the feud wound down. In the course of doing so, this book also debunks many of the myths and some of the commonly held beliefs of what took place during this feud. Indeed, the book also gives details on other feuds that occurred during the years that the Hatfield-McCoy feud ravaged the Tug River valley. It is a good, easy to read book. The only failing of the book is that the pictures section is heavily tilted towards the Hatfields. I don't know if this is because the McCoys did have as many pictures or what. But a better balanced photo section would be helpful.

I've become quite the Hatfield-McCoy historian over the years, having helped to produce an hour-long multimedia program to be shown to the general public on this facinating topic. A partner and I also worked with members of both families (descendants of the feudists) to put it all together.

One of our foremost resources was this book, the work of Otis Rice. Of the many available texts covering the Hatfield-McCoy feud, Rice outshone all the others.

The writing is a little stiff but since the topic is so engaging, most readers won't mind the scholastic text. This book has my highest recommendation for those interested in the history of Appalachia.

Rice lists Rose Anna McCoy's Aunt Betty as "Betty Blankenship McCoy" on page 21. Without being able to contact him as to how he determined this, I have to contest it.

My great-great-grandmother was Aunt Betty-- Elizabeth Rutherford McCoy. She was married to Uriah McCoy, not Allen McCoy, as Rice writes. She is buried with Uriah in our family cemetery, just above her house, which is on the Hatfield-McCoy Trail tour as the house where Rose Anna stayed and had her baby.

Other than that, I assume his information is correct, though I will be thoroughly researching what he reports.

Recd the book in a timely fashion and the book was in great shape. Very pleased with the service.