The Feud: The Hatfields and McCoys: The True Story

Genuinely exciting, fast-moving, but also sad and tragic story of two rival clans who battled each other across the Tug Fork River between Kentucky and West Virginia for 3 decades of the late 19th century. If you can make sense of the torrent of names, many of them very similar, that will be hurled at you as you wade through the family history of the much intermarried clans, you will find this an enthralling read. The feud, which began with the murder of a Union sympathiser after the Civil War, but was really precipitated a decade later by, of all things, the disputed ownership of a pig, ostensibly involved the Hatfield family, based in West Virginia and led by Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, and the McCoys, based in Kentucky and led by show more Randolph "Ole Ran'l" McCoy, was much more complex than a simple dispute between families. It involved concepts of loyalty, honour and betrayal, that led people to forgo family ties in order to take one side or the other, or indeed, try to stop the feud altogether. King has taken a complicated story and made a fast-paced, exciting read. Despite the tangled family trees and webs of intrigue and mistrust, the story moves at a breakneck pace, covering three decades of violence without mssing a beat. King does not, however, gloss over the genuine tragedy of this private civil war. At least 20 people, many of them innocent, died in the course of the feud, and King captures the loss and the grief of the bereaved families. He also captures the wider implications of this private war for the US at large, with two states, Kentucky and West Virginia, being drawn almost to the point of war themselves over the dispute, and the interest of the world outside piqued, with journalists from the big cities risking their lives in order to penetrate the clan strongholds in search of a scoop. This is an enthralling piece of writing, sad, but gripping which will reward the reader very richly indeed. show less

This book was well researched, well written and held my interest. I've long heard about the Hatfields & McCoys' feud, and I appreciate knowing more about it, but I find it sad that such a story actually happened, that people held such strong grudges and had so little value of human life.

Dean King's latest book is a thoroughly researched history of the Hatfield-McCoy feud. The book has merit in that it paints a vivid picture of late 19th century life along the West Virginia/Kentucky border, and the hatred that festered between the two families. The book, however, goes far beyond what the casual reader would want to know. His litany of names from the two families is something this reader did not enjoy slogging through. Unlike King's wonderfully written "Skeletons on the Zahara", which is a history that reads like a novel, "Feud" is ponderous and confusing. That being said, if you are a student of this era or perhaps have ties to the region, no doubt you will find more to like about this book.

I won this book from Goodreads Book Giveaway. I love history and the story of the Hatfields and the McCoys which many books have been written. Mr King does a great service to the story of these two feuding families by clarifying and clearing up many of the stories and legends that surround this infamous time in our history. It is amazing before the Civil War the families chose to marry between the families but after the Civil War grudges and perceived slights to one another began to occur. These slights and grudges turned into monumental battles leading to a horrific amount of bloodshed. Giving new meaning to pioneer and mountain justice leaving law enforcement no legs to stand on as each side executed one another with a few innocent show more and not so innocent bystanders caught in the cross hairs. Thank goodness for the provided family trees provided to keep some of the minor players straight on where they fell in the family trees. This story is far from a simple theft of a pig or that these people were considered hillbillies. Far from it the Hatfields had a timber operation and the McCoys ended up in the coal business. They knew how to work the political and judicial system for the most part it worked in the Hatfields favor. Only a handful of the participants ever saw jail time and only one was hung for his part in the deaths. Amazing historical research with the help of both families and historical records that have never before been seen that help dispel many of the myths and why they became so legendary. This book is a must have for Hatfield & McCoy reference and to the history of the Appalachia and its people. I know I will be adding a copy to my library. show less

5053. The Feud The Hatfields & McCoys The True Story, by Dean King (read 15 Aug 2013) The subject matter of the book is of high interest, but, while the author has done much research, the book does not do a good job to enable the casual reader to know who is who, often referring to people by nicknames. The family trees are not as helpful as they could be. As far as blame goes each side has to bear some, though probably the most salient wrong was the killing of a McCoy boy who was innocent of anything except failing to blame his brothers for their actions. A modicum of gun control might have saved some lives though the gun manufacturers would have objected. A sorry time in Appalachian history.

I really enjoyed reading The Feud. The more I read I paid attention to the names of families and realized that a lot of the same families lived up in Ritchie County where I'm from,we had Hatfields,McCoys,Clines, and Cunningham's. I think one of my Aunts married a Cunningham. I found some new information that I had not known and I noticed as I read I had a tendency to take the West Virginia side while reading and wondered why they didn't stop those damned Kentucky bounty hunters. This is a very good read and I recommend it to all West Virginia and Kentucky history lovers and anyone who likes American history.

The complex genealogy made this difficult to follow as an audio book. I suggest reading an actual copy rather than listening to it.