The Hatfields & the McCoys

Gr 8 Up—The Appalachian mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky are areas of great beauty and tremendous poverty. The locus of Old World artists and free thinkers, they were also hotbeds of some of the most violent family strife in the history of the United States. The Hatfields and the McCoys came from the British Isles, early settlers to the United States. Indeed, the Hatfields came over on the Mayflower-but both families arrived in the United States seeking to worship freely. Intent on retaining a high degree of self-determinism, the families were prominent in the Tug Valley of Kentucky, and both were headed by patriarchs who served in the Civil War. The likelihood that they suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome is high; and the violence that came to pass may very well have been a result of that affliction. Covering the feud from its inception to its resolution, Wexler's book is highly readable, well written, and beautifully extended by period photos and drawings. The author discusses the initial disputes, the impact of a biased judicial system, the role of the national press corps in recording and publicizing the feud, and the complicated web of intermarriage and interrelationships between the two families. Including information on movie and television treatments of the conflict as well as notable descendants, the book also has clear family trees. The lack of source notes and an index is less than ideal and makes the volume harder to use as a reference source. Still, it is fascinating reading.—Ann Welton, Grant Elementary School, Tacoma, WA