The Hatfields and the McCoys Hardcover – December 31, 1982

I have always been interested in the story . This book was well put together using a great number of sources . I thought it was quite familiar with the story, but it was much more in depth than I realized . Very well written and a quick easy read .

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.

While a very interesting book on the Hatfields and McCoy feud. I wish I had went with a different book on the subject the book is small and not as much of a detailed account of the events in the fued as I had hoped it would be.

If you are looking for a well researched, intellectual take on the famous Feud then this is the book for you. I wanted a realistic account of the Hatfields and McCoys and this is about as close as you can get. This book is very easy to read and explains a lot more than just the two families fighting. You get an idea of the time, place, atmosphere and attitudes as well as a bit of history of other feuds of the times and why they started, or as close as possible as to why. Very well written as it is not strictly a history lesson. It relates to the myths and legends but also presents valid explanations and alternatives where actual facts are lost. I definitely got more than I was looking for in this book.

Otis Rice told us on the first page of his Preface that newspapers “were so biased or so grossly inaccurate that they must be used with considerable discrimination.” Then he proceeded to cite newspaper reporters over one hundred fifty times in one hundred twenty-six pages of text in “The Hatfields & The McCoys.” The book is now considered one of the “standard and most reputable” sources on the history of the feud.The majority of the citations in the footnotes to every one of Rice’s fourteen chapters are to newspaper writers. In three of his chapters, 6, 10 and 11, every one of the notes refers to a newspaper man.In his coverage of the “quiet years,” 1883-86, in Chapter 4, Rice gives detailed accounts of both the “ambush of the innocents,” and the “tale of the cow’s tail.” In each case Rice’s book reads like either the testimony of an eyewitness, or a novel.Rice writes: “Through mountain gossip and their own intelligence, the Hatfields learned that Randolph McCoy was planning a trip to Pikeville, evidently to consult with Cline.” Of course this presumes that Devil Anse was so concerned with Ran’l’s activities in 1884, when absolutely nothing had happened between the pair during the two years since Anse balanced the scales by executing his brother’s killers, that he was conducting some kind of elaborate intelligence operation to learn about Ran’l’s comings and goings.It also presumes that Anse was too obtuse to know that the woods came down so close to Ran’l’s homestead that any Hatfield over the age of ten could have assumed a position in the edge of the woods and dispatched the old man at his leisure. The feud story demands an elaborate ambush.Since we know that Rice looked at the Pike Circuit Court records—he mentions them several times—we know that Rice knew that Devil Anse didn’t have to exert any special effort to know when Ran’l would be going to Pikeville. The records show that when the Circuit Court was in session Ran’l McCoy was usually on the docket in either a civil or criminal matter, so, all Anse had to do was find out when the next session of Circuit began, and he would almost surely be able to ambush Ran’l on his way to Pikeville.Rice’s description of the beating of the Daniels women with the cow’s tail is equally detailed. It reads exactly like it would if Rice had been physically present when the event occurred. Of course he adds a few details to tie it more directly to the feud, such as saying that when Cap beat the two women, he was “acting for the family.”For both of these detailed accounts of events which are integral parts of his supersized “Hatfield and McCoy feud,” Rice gives ONLY newspapers as sources. For the ambush of the innocents, he cites an article from the Louisville Courier Journal, which appeared six years after the purported event, and one from the Pittsburgh Times, which appeared four years afterwards.In support of his yarn about Cap Hatfield and Tom Wallace spraying the surface of Tug River in a vain attempt to hit Jeff McCoy from a distance of a few yards with Winchester rifles, he cites articles from the same two papers, written two years after the supposed event.His primary source for the tale of the cow’s tail is the newspaper reporter, Virgil Jones.Whether academia will admit it or not—and they haven’t yet admitted it—Otis Rice did not write a history of the Hatfield and McCoy feud. He aggregated the writings of newspaper reporters, which he said were “grossly inaccurate,” and seasoned them with a light dusting of actual historical records, and produced a book he hoped would sell to a gullible public. Of course he succeeded; not only do folks like the West Virginia Encyclopedia use Rice as a major source for “history,” but the book remains one of the best-selling books on the subject of the feud, more than thirty years after its appearance. [...]

Good read giving a perspective often missed in our synopsis media use of this conflict - not much different than getting the background and history for the gangs on the streets of our big cities - being in an area few of us live makes it appear more colorful and therefore, made into a different sort of and therefore, un-relatable metaphor.

i really enjoyed this book. i have family in that part of wv and ken. when i go back for vacation i always add to my collection of books.

This was more on Hatfield side. I would like to find a book, how the mcoys felt . I have read nothing but Hatefield side.

This is a small, slim hardback which is physically quite difficult to handle and read owing to its stiffness and binding.The content is good if a little dry as it derives from an academic study of the conflict.For a book which opens with the importance of the geography of the area in which the feud took place (the Tug fork) it would be greatly improved by a map of the area. Equally the inclusion of relevant family trees of the main protagonists would have greatly helped the reader.On the positive side the book is well indexed. For the price it is not for the casual reader.

After seeing the excellent TV series from Kevin Kostner I really wanted to read about the events portrayed. This book arrived in fast time and is great. I would certaily urge other people to buy it. (As an aside, "Bad" Frank Phillips was perfectly cast for the series).

if you have seen the television series you should read this book OTIS K. RICE DETAILS THE feud between the families over the end of the civil war its a must read

The reader has a funny delivery, the story line is confusing and complex. Have to listen to it again!

A very interesting read