The West Virginia Coal Wars are often overlooked in US history. It is time that changed.

Several lessons can be learned from what happened during the West Virginia Coal Wars. These confrontations led to developments in labor relations that define collective bargaining to this day. There were heroes and villains, saints and sinners, and a mountain culture that was inexorably changed. It is a story that is fascinating and disturbing at the same time.

This book holds some fascinating tidbits of information many people do not know, including the following:

• The impact of company stores
• The role minorities played in the coal wars
• The story behind the term "redneck"
• Safety hazards the coal miners faced
• Organizations that supported the miners and better working conditions

This book on the West Virginia Coal Wars lets us look down the mine shafts of West Virginia into the dark world of exploitation and worker abuse that was common one hundred years ago.

The hills were alive with sounds of gunfire as coal miners and their union stood up against management. The West Virginia Coal Wars is a fascinating journey through the dark mountains of Appalachia and the struggle its people endured to win basic rights and respect.