In an attempt to separate myth from fact, the author probes the origins of the McCoy-Hatfield vendetta and the social, political, economic, and cultural ramifications of Appalachia's famous nineteenth-century family feud

The in-depth "true" story of this legendarily fierce-- and far-reaching-- clash in the heart of Appalachia.

Recounts the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys, examines the sociological implications of the conflict, and offers brief profiles of the main participants

America’s most notorious family feud began in 1865 with the murder of a Union McCoy soldier by a Confederate Hatfield relative of "Devil Anse" Hatfield. More than a decade later, Ranel McCoy accused a Hatfield cousin of stealing one of his hogs, triggering years of violence and retribution, including a Romeo-and-Juliet interlude that eventually led to the death of one of McCoy’s daughters. In a drunken brawl, three of McCoy's sons killed Devil Anse Hatfield’s younger brother. Exacting vigilante vengeance, a group of Hatfields tied them up and shot them dead. McCoy posses hijacked part of the Hatfield firing squad across state lines to stand trial, while those still free burned down Ranel McCoy’s cabin and shot two of his children in a botched attempt to suppress the posses. Legal wrangling ensued until the US Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky could try the captured West Virginian Hatfields. Seven went to prison, and one, mentally disabled, yelled, “The Hatfields made me do it!” as he was hanged. But the feud didn’t end there. Its legend continues to have an enormous impact on the popular imagination and the region. With a charming voice, a wonderfully dry sense of humor, and an abiding gift for spinning a yarn, bestselling author Lisa Alther makes an impartial, comprehensive, and compelling investigation of what happened, masterfully setting the feud in its historical and cultural contexts, digging deep into the many causes and explanations of the fighting, and revealing surprising alliances and entanglements. Here is a fascinating new look at the infamous Hatfield-McCoy feud.

In the 1880s, young Fanny McCoy witnesses the growth of a terrible and violent feud between her Kentucky family and the West Virginia Hatfields, complicated by her older sister Roseanna's romance with a Hatfield.

"Reunion" is the story of one man's journey to discover his family heritage in the shadow of America's most famous feud. The American saga of the Hatfield-McCoy feud continues to intrigue people fascinated by even the smallest details of the story. People are drawn to the tale of two families caught up in a tragic vendetta in the rugged Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia. But this is not a book about the feud. Until the author was thirty-five years old, he did not know he was related to the clan. This is a book about discovery. It is the story of enduring challenges, surprising revelations and new-found family. It is a personal journey to connect with the past and understand its relationship to the future. It is the story of family members, past and present, whose choices, decisions and actions, both good and bad, have directly affected and shaped the lives of generations to come. Ron McCoy is the great-great-great-grandson of Randolph McCoy, patriarch of the family at the time of the feud. His improbable discovery of his family heritage led to his involvement in seminal events that added new chapters to its history. He helped organize the first national reunion of the Hatfields and McCoys in 2000. In 2003, he helped shepherd the historic Hatfield McCoy truce signing, an event carried live on national television.

"No other family feud in history has captured the attention of the United Stated more than that of the Hatfields and McCoys. Although the feud itself raged from 1865 to 1888, it has continued for generations in the eyes of many. In this "scrapbook" of the McCoy and Hatfield families, see how the feud was illustrated through pen-and-ink drawings and photographs over the past century and a half, revealing each clan's colorful history and showing how the feud affected each family's destiny"--P. [4] of cover.