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Title: The Devil Is Here in These Hills

Subtitle: West Virginias Coal Miners and Their Battle for Freedom

Author: James Green

Narrator: Joel Richards

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-19-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

From before the dawn of the 20th century until the arrival of the New Deal, one of the most protracted and deadly labor struggles in American history was waged in West Virginia. On one side were powerful corporations whose millions bought armed guards and political influence. On the other side were 50,000 mine workers, the nation's largest labor union, and the legendary "miners' angel", Mother Jones. The fight for unionization and civil rights sparked a political crisis verging on civil war that stretched from the creeks and hollows to the courts and the US Senate. In The Devil Is Here in These Hills, celebrated labor historian James Green tells the story of West Virginia and coal like never before.

The value of West Virginia's coalfields had been known for decades, and after rail arrived in the 1870s, industrialists pushed fast into the wilderness, digging mines and building company towns where they wielded nearly complete control over everyday life. The state's high-quality coal drove American expansion and industrialization. But for tens of thousands of laborers, including boys as young as 10, mining life showed the bitter irony of the state motto: "mountaineers are always free". Attempts to unionize were met with stiff resistance. Fundamental rights were bent, then broken, and the violence evolved from bloody skirmishes to open armed conflict as an army of miners marched to an explosive showdown. Extensively researched and told in vibrant detail, The Devil Is Here in These Hills is the definitive book on an essential chapter in the history of American freedom.

Members Reviews:

Coal Mining in America - A Standout

I know this is a book of limited appeal, but as a reference book for the history of coal mining in America, it is a treasure. With all its detail, this is not an easy book to just pick up and sit down to read. But there are a million things to learn here, and anyone who enjoys history, learning, and/or non-fiction will find this book totally rewarding.

Forgotten history of the labor movement

Folks interested in the history of the labor movement or socialism in America should enjoy this book. Despite an active interest in both, I was completely unaware of this piece of violent history involving West Virginia coal miners and the corporations they worked for at the beginning of the 20th Century. There was plenty of animosity on either side, and such noteworthy characters as Eugene Debs and Mother Jones played a part in the drama.

Excellent Account

This account of West Virginia mining and labor is the best history book I have read in a long while. I am about to move to this area of the country. Green's book is a great insight into, not only a cathartic period of American and West Virginia history, but also the people of the state and their staunch individualism. The prose delivers precise imagery and portrays with careful attention to important detail the features of the larger than life characters of the vast coal fields. The account is authoritative and thoroughly researched.

Great history!

As a native West Virginian with family history in the mines this was a look at a bleak period in the state's history. While I am one who believes unions have outlived their usefulness (the welfare state takes their place, this was definitely a time when the union saved people's lives.