The Kingdom of Coal: Work, Enterprise, and Ethnic Communities in the Mine Fields [Paperback]

Donald L. Miller (Author), Richard E. Sharpless (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1985

This is the first comprehensive history of the anthracite industry and the unique regional culture that grew up with it. It is the story of one of America's first great industries and of the people who made it great—from the miserably paid immigrant mine workers to the powerful coal barons.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A terrific book. The photographs alone are powerful documents of how it really was for so many. Much of the story is tragic. Many readers will be astonished that such conditions and suffering could ever have prevailed. But these were real people and these were their times. They never imagined themselves as figures in History with a capital H -- their concern was largely survival but they too built America and their story, in all, is finally one of affirmation: a reminder that people are our richest resource. -- David McCullough

A well-documented history of a giant American industry and a fascinating story of the unique regional culture that it spawned... [The text] conveys something of the economic and environmental costs of this vast and audacious enterprise. This rewarding and disturbing book is bound to make you reflect on the human cost as well. -- James Idema: Smithsonian --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Donald L. Miller holds the John Henry McCracken chair of history at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania.

Richard E. Sharpless, a former newspaper reporter and magazine writer and editor, is a professor of history at Lafayette College. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press; 6th edition (November 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812212010
• ISBN-13: 978-0812212013
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #785,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Donald L. Miller is the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History at Lafayette College. He hosted the series A Biography of America on PBS and has appeared in numerous other PBS programs in the American Experience series, as well as in programs on the History Channel. He is the author of eight previous books, among them the prize-winning City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America, The Story of World War II, and D-Days in the Pacific.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed history of Noheastern Pa. coal fields, March 28, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdom of Coal: Work, Enterprise, and Ethnic Communities in the Mine Fields (Paperback)

This is the definitive history of the birth, rise and fall of the anthracite coal industry in three northeastern Pennsylvania fields: Schulykill, Lackawana and Wyoming. Written in narrative form with copious references, it details the everyday trials and tribulations of the immigrants who worked the fields and the coal companies who exploited them. This is must reading for anyone wanting an insight into the lives of their ancestors who immigrated and worked these fields between 1800 and 1970,

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive. Well done!!, January 23, 2003

By 

Paul Eckler (princeton jct, nj United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kingdom of Coal: Work, Enterprise, and Ethnic Communities in the Mine Fields (Paperback)

Kingdom of Coal is a very well done telling of the history of anthracite coal. The book tells the story from the days when stone coal was first discovered in the wilderness of Eastern PA, through its development as a major energy source, and into the labor struggle. Closely associated is the development of canals, known as the anthracite canals to bring the coal to market and later the development of railroads. Still later the railroads, known as the anthracite railroads owned most of the mines.

The book also covers the close association between coal and the iron industry. Anthracite was first used by blacksmiths. It soon replaced charcoal in blast furnaces to reduce iron ore to iron. Iron rails for the railroads, previously imported from England, were an early product.

Missing in the book is the story of the gaslight industry. Processes for the manufacture of gas from coal were invented in 1815. Nearly every city of any size had a gas plant to supply gaslights. This was an early user of coal--originally imported from Europe. The industry continued until World War II when transcontinental pipelines brought natural gas to the distribution systems originally built for manufactured gas.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good summary of an important era, October 30, 2010

By 

Dennis Schaffer (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Kingdom of Coal: Work, Enterprise, and Ethnic Communities in the Mine Fields (Paperback)

This book may not be for everyone, but I grew up in the Lehigh Valley and only saw the last vestiges of the anthracite era. My grandfather worked in #9 mine for Lehigh Coal and Navigation during the early 20th century. Miller and Sharpless provide a broad historical overview suitable for a general reader.

They start with the first discoveries of anthracite and continue on through the development of canals and railroads primarily for the movement of coal to market. Attention is paid to local geographical features, economics, and the impact on local communities caused not just by the coal industry itself but the accompanying transport of coal. Local cities and towns have their moments in the sun: Pottsville, Mauch Chunk, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre - all testified today by their older neighborhoods of fantastic 19th century houses for the upper classes.

The dirty, dangerous, brutal effects that the industry had on all involved is a major theme of the book. Miners themselves are discussed front and center. It didn't occur to me that each individual miner was in effect a sub-contractor, arranging ahead of time terms of sale with the companies for each ton of coal he mined. Chapters on the Molly Maguires, ethnic communities, and union activity all bring color and detail to an important stage in American history.

For anyone interested in learning much more about the huge impact anthracite coal had on the industrial revolution in America as well as how it changed the land and people of northeast Pennsylvania, this is the book for you!