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

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

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.

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

The book represents the first biography of Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, by great grandson Dr. Coleman Hatfield and noted Mountain State historian Robert Y. Spence. Tale of the Devil is the story of Hatfield family patriarch Devil Anse Hatfield. It covers his service in the Civil War as a Confederate officer for the Wildcats. The volume features in-depth coverage of the feud years, as well as the years after the gunfire seized. In recognition of this undertaking and his exhaustive investigation of the subject matter, Dr. Coleman C. Hatfield was named Tamarack Author of the Year in 2004. This book has also been recognized throughout the nation by book reviewers and historians-as well as governors and dignitaries-for its exceptional content and meticulous research.

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.