The Hatfields and the McCoys

by Otis K. Rice

Book Overview

The Hatfield-McCoy feud has long been the most famous vendetta of the southern Appalachians. Over the years it has become encrusted with myth and error. Scores of writers have produced accounts of it, but few have made any real effort to separate fact from fiction. Novelists, motion picture producers, television script writers, and others have sensationalized events that needed no embellishment. Using court records, public documents, official correspondence,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813114594
• ISBN13: 9780813114590
• Release Date: December 1982
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.9"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Otis Rice is the clear authority

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.

Hatfields and McCoys

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

Great book

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.

Very thorough

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.