The Devil Is Here in These Hills

February 1, 2015
Probably few energy consumers today realize that prior to the era of gasoline-powered transportation, the dominant worldwide energy source was coal instead of oil, with the demand for this stony black material often triggering its own set of violent clashes. One series of gun battles and power struggles took place in West Virginia over a period of nearly 50 years beginning in 1890 between the mining companies and union-sympathetic miners. University of Massachusetts history professor Green does an outstanding job here of bringing this period to life, giving readers a vivid picture of the hardscrabble Appalachian miners' day-to-day existence and their frequent bloody skirmishes with coal company hired guns. Green also tells the story of such unionizing champions as miner-turned-Socialist leader Frank Keeney and the legendary civil- liberties crusader Mary Harris Mother Jones, who put themselves in harm's way to save miners' lives. A thoroughly documented and masterfully written account of a little- remembered but critical period in U.S. history, when unions scored a major victory for workers' rights.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

Starred review from December 1, 2014
Green (History/Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston; Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing that Divided Gilded Age America, 2006, etc.) mines the historically dark seams of the sanguinary Mountain State coal wars that raged in the early decades of the 20th century.The author begins with the discovery of coal in the region in 1750 and then proceeds to the quick "development" of the area by mine owners, who did all they could-legally and otherwise-to keep wages low, working conditions precarious and workers in a virtual enslavement. (The volume's subtitle reveals the author's point of view.) Numerous notable names appear throughout, beginning with James M. Cain (before his novels), who wrote about the region in the 1920s, and including familiar names (Mother Jones, the Hatfields, John L. Lewis) and those whose roles many readers new to the subject may find remarkable-Louis Brandeis, Billy Sunday (he was on the owners' payroll), Edmund Wilson and Felix Frankfurter (pre-Supreme Court) among them. The very names of some of the encampments and confrontations are resonant-e.g., Paint Creek, Matewan and Blair Mountain. Green proceeds through the decades, describing the actions (violent and otherwise) in calm detail, telling us about the principals on both sides and providing many useful maps and photographs. We see the rise and fall and rise of union activity in the region-activity that was often bathed in blood and terror-and the fecklessness and cowardice of politicians at all levels, from local officials to President Herbert Hoover. We witness the extreme deprivations of the miners and their families, their astonishing willingness-even eagerness-to suffer so that future generations would not. It is obvious throughout that these issues of capital vs. labor have remained with us and, in some ways, worsened. Green opens our eyes with his assiduous research and steady storytelling.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2014

Noted labor historian Green (Death in the Haymarket) spent years putting together this richly detailed account of one of the bloodiest labor struggles in American history, as 50,000 miners battled wealthy corporations in early 20th-century West Virginia. Optioned by PBS for the American Experience.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.