I enjoy historical fiction and this one was focused on the 1920 Battle of Blair Mountain, a battle of coal miners against mine owners, state militia, and the US government in the largest labor uprising in American history. Taking place in West Virginia, it was a fascinating read, one that I knew nothing about, and there was a lot of build up to get to the ultimate battle, which was riveting.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the digital copy to review.

Historial fiction that read more like non-fiction. The amount of research the author did is obvious.

Based on real life events and people, the author portrayed the life of coal miners and their families in such a way that I felt like I was there. As a native West Virginia, this book helped put all the facts I have learned about the Coal Wars in context of when and how they happened and the effects they had on all the citizens of West Virginia. Highly recommend reading!

This is a very readable dipiction of a historical evwnt that most people have never heard of. It’s a fictional account of events that happened in Kentucky and Tennessee when coal miners wanted to unionize and how it erupted in a war between the coal mine owner’s thugs and the miners.
At times it got overwhelming to read graphic descriptions of the battles and killings, but it was worth it to learn about this horrible time in our country. It lead me to learn more about Mother Jones, unions and the coal mining industry.

I wanted to read this book because it is about mine strikes in Appalachia in the 1920s. I was expecting history and a family drama, but this was really a war story. The main characters are a miner, his grandmother, and their friend the local doctor. I liked them, but there wasn't enough of them. The book was mostly ambushes, bombs, bloody injuries, shootouts, weapons, and battle scenes. I'm sure some people would find this very exciting - but it just isn't my kind of book.

As a West Virgina implant, this was an enlightening read that made me realize that our 8th grade WV history class and corresponding Golden Horseshoe test had misses opportunities to get us organized. Cheers to the Greta Thunbergs of the world.

What an extremely well-researched and well-written historical fiction.

This tells the story of The Battle of Blair Mountain. It was the second bloodiest battle on American soil since the civil war and I had never heard of it.

The coal miners of West Virginia wanted to join the union and the coal mine bigwigs were dead set against it. The coal miners took to the mountains to fight the hired men of the coal mine kings. Even the military was called in.

Having seen a lot of the abandoned mines while hiking around Southeast Tennessee, I found the story especially heart-breaking and riveting. I can’t even imagine the life these men lead. Well, I can imagine it because the author has presented it in detail. You really feel the determination of these men. You feel the anguish of their wives and children. You feel the arrogance and power of the coal kings.

A fascinating read. This is my first book by Taylor Brown and it will definitely not be my last.

This was a great book. I felt like I was there fighting with them. I wanted to scream at some of the characters. I would definitely recommend this book.

Suppose you review a book by an author and give it a favourable review. In that case, chances are that the author’s publicist will reach out to you with more books by the same author to read. That’s how I’ve now come to read four books by an author of Southern Gothic fiction, Taylor Brown: Gods of Howl Mountain, Pride of Eden, Wingwalkers, and now Rednecks. Like Wingwalkers before it, Rednecks is a work of historical fiction. Set in the years 1920 and ’21, the book covers the “Battle of Blair Mountain” in Western Virginia, where a multi-ethnic army of 10,000 ununionized coal miners was pitted against mine owners and their hired thugs, as well as state militia and even the U.S. government. As Brown is quick to point out, this skirmish that killed dozens of people was not only the most significant labor uprising in American history, but it almost marked the beginning of the Second Civil War. Tactics that miners and mine owner thugs might have learned when fighting overseas in World War I were used in this conflict, and trench warfare was employed on U.S. soil during this incident. And that is something probably most Americans don’t know, as this 100-year-old fight for the right to unionize — which wasn’t enshrined in law until 1933’s New Deal legislation — has been largely swept under the rug. Brown is here to shine a light on the proceedings, and I must say that this is either the best or the worst of his books.

The novel makes the reader feel like they are partaking in a great human injustice as they read of miners being thrown out of their company-owned homes and left to wither in tent shantytowns dotting the treacherous Southern landscape. This is also probably the most violent book I’ve ever read — with blood being spilled on just about every page. (Take that, Stephen King and Blood Meridian.) These two facets of the book can make it either one of tough sledding or white-knuckle excitement. The writing is also lyrical and almost poetic, which is at odds with its impoverished and brutal setting. Rednecks, thus, isn’t your average book. There’s a deep-seated appreciation of history here, with real-life union rabble-rouser Mother Jones a main character in this, even if she’s not given a whole lot to do but sit on the sidelines and wring her hands at the escalating situation. Other characters sometimes are pulled from the author’s own family: Doc Moo (the local doctor) is based on his great-grandfather, and Big Frank — a machine of a Black man who helped lead the insurrection on the miner’s side — is cobbled from two real-life men.

Beyond that, Rednecks is a novel that is tough to write about. One’s enjoyment of this might be based on your empathy for unionization and the time and place in which it is set. It is also a very episodic novel with bursts of action punctuating the text in short chapters — of which there are more than 80 of them. Once you get past the bloodletting and historical aspect of the book, there’s not much to say about it — except that this book certainly has a different feel than some of Brown’s other works. Again, this is a profoundly lyrical work, and the writing comes across as more refined than in Brown’s writing in the past. I would caution readers not to get too invested in some of its main characters, too, as the odd one will not make it to the novel’s conclusion. As noted, this novel is built on gristle and bone. Violence was king in West Virginia in the early 1920s, and you can bet rivers of blood will run, given that a million bullets were shot in this confrontation.

I suppose that I’m on the fence when it comes to this work. I respect Brown and am in awe that he’s made a career out of the genre he writes in, which is not always an easy sell. I appreciate that Brown is trying to spotlight a segment of American history that has been largely forgotten. But I found that, despite all the beatings and shootings that can be found here, there were lulls and stretches where a sharper editor could have done some pruning. While some of the gore is hinted at, and what there is on the page is probably needed to explain just how awful this conflict indeed was (with Americans killing other Americans in large numbers outside of the Civil War), it does get wearing and tiresome that there’s seemingly no end to this brawl in sight throughout the novel. It’s a bloody mess, and Brown makes his point early enough to make one wonder if the story might have worked better as a novella. Still, this is all griping because there is value in this tale not often told. While I can’t help but wonder if Rednecks will probably polarize readers depending on their tolerance for shrapnel bomb victim injuries being described in detail, this is a worthwhile read if you can stomach injustice and carnage in equal measure. This is an important book — perhaps Brown’s most important book – and those who come along for the ride are bound to find something of worth here. For that, I suspect I’ll be approached by a publicist again when Brown publishes his next book. Given the pedigree and solid nature of his writing, I’ll be eternally grateful for that. Rednecksis is not just another Taylor Brown book; it is vital and worth reading to discover the hidden truths of American justice and the imbalance of power. In short, this is worth a try.

I couldn't put this book down. This is the story about the Battle of Blair Mountain, a real event that took place during 1920-1921. It was the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War and the largest labor uprising in United States history. I was shocked that I had never heard of it. These events are real, as are most of the characters.

The author vividly describes how the miners would walk into the belly of the mine, sometimes not even able to stand up, to get to the coal seam they were working on. Dynamite was also used in the mine, to create tunnels. Those tunnels could collapse, and the men trapped could not always be retrieved. The lack of care for the men working in the mine was astonishing. It was evident that the coal was much more important to the mine bosses than the men.

Most of the miners and their families lived in a large camp near the mountain. Some lived in wooden houses and some in tents. They bought food and clothing from the company stores, their only choice. They were perpetually in debt due to low wages and the high cost of everything they bought.

When the miners tried to organize a union to negotiate for safety, better living conditions, and higher wages, the company fought back, promising to fire any worker who joined the union.

I received an e-arc from the publisher St. Martin's Press via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

Since my roots are in union organizing of coal miners, albeit in Pennsylvania, not West Virginia, I was very interested in reading Rednecks. This is really good historical fiction, well written about little known parts of US history. The characters are all well-developed, the story both sad and enlightening; This is not my usual read, but I'm glad I read it. I learned a lot.

I learned about a lesser known bit of American History that I didn't learn in school. I'm know looking for other books by this author.

When I saw that Taylor Brown had written a new book, I was onboard after reading several others by this talented author. This historical account is a bit of a departure though still with beautiful storytelling and extensive research. It's an important story of the largest labor uprising in American history taking place in Kentucky surrounding the Appalachian coal mines. Surprisingly I had never heard of this even though I've lived in Kentucky all my 58 years. While I enjoyed learning the history, I was a bit bogged down by the gritty detail of the war itself but I'm appreciative that the story has now come to life. I would recommend this book to native Kentuckians and to history or war buffs but its probably not something everyone would enjoy. My thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Taylor Brown did it again. He breathes life into a time in history, and brings the emotions to the surface as if they just happened. His subject with Rednecks is the West Virginia Mine Wars of 1920-1921. You may have never heard of such a war and that’s what makes this book even more enjoyable. It’s a lazy way to learn about some pivotal moments in our nation’s history that we normally would have never known about. And it’s an indepth look at how hard life was for the mining families, and especially the families struggling to survive the terrain of West Virginia. Thank you Taylor, for another historically entertaining read.
Thanks so much to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is May 14, 2024.

***In this mix of fictional and fascinating historical elements, Brown crafts a character-driven story of the shocking, widespread, deadly West Virginia Mine Wars and thousands-strong labor uprising that took place in 1920 and 1921.***

In Rednecks, Taylor Brown presents a historical novel centering around the real-life events of the 1920 and 1921 West Virginia Mine Wars. Ranging from the Matewan Massacre through the Battle of Blair Mountain, which pitted 10,000 desperate, fed-up miners against greedy, ruthless coal operators, state militia, and the U.S. government.

Rednecks offers a mix of fictional and real characters in this riveting tale of rebellion and oppressive control--a story of the largest labor uprising in United States history.

Brown unfailingly offers a character-driven tale set in a lushly built setting, with large-scale life-and-death, good-and-evil struggles that he brings to life through rich figures that fascinate and sometimes break your heart.

What brings the book to life are versions of the real-life figures of Mother Jones (the elderly woman once called The Most Dangerous Woman in America) and the sharpshooter Sid Hatfield; and characters like Doc "Moo," a Lebanese-American doctor (inspired by Taylor Brown's great-grandfather); Big Frank, a black World War I veteran fed up with fear and intimidation; and Frank's feisty grandmother Beulah.

The true events that inspired the book are shocking and often read like fiction--the cutthroat, sometimes deadly efforts of coal-company enforcers to subdue rebellion; the years of suffering for thousands of vulnerable mining families; and the hopeless trudge forward in a cycle of poor health, hunger, too-little pay and carefully orchestrated poverty, extremely dangerous work, and, often, death. By the time the uproar and intensive violence that shook West Virginia begin to take shape, Brown has laid the groundwork for the uprising.

Much of Rednecks focuses on the brutal battles that defined the violence of the time, particularly the pivotal Battle of Blair Mountain.

Minor note: Brown explores the origin of the term "rednecks," one that surprised me.

I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

Taylor Brown is also the author of Wingwalkers, The Gods of Howl Mountain, and Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War, plus other novels.

This historical novel dramatizes the 1920-21 events of the West Virginia Mine Wars—from the Matewan Massacre through the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed conflict on American soil since the Civil War, when some one million rounds were fired, bombs were dropped on Appalachia, and the term “redneck” would come to have an unexpected origin story. Although I was vaguely aware of the labor/union problems in the past, this book really educated me.

There are some excellent characters in the book including Mother Jones, an Irish-born labor organizer once known as "The Most Dangerous Woman in America", Dr. Domit “Doc Moo" Muhanna, a Lebanese-American doctor (inspired by the author’s own great-grandfather), and "Smilin" Sid Hatfield who stood up to the "gun thugs" of the coal companies, becoming a folk hero of the mine wars, to name just a few. I really struggled with this book and found I could only read it in small doses. This is no fault of the book; it was very well written with much historical information. I think I just found it too heartbreaking to read how Americans treated their fellow Americans and how families suffered. All those men dead and for nothing. Or maybe it's because some of those things or variations of them are still happening in that country. To me this book was deserving of 3.5 stars but I debated whether to round up or down. Each reader will need to make their own decision.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for providing this copy for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Published: May 14, 2024

It has been a long time since I read a book set in the west or about that time periods.

I cannot imagine the conditions miners used to work in and I do not blame them for wanting to make it better.

I loved the characters in this story. I also cannot imagine what the doctor saw and went thru.

Would love to see this book come to life as a movie!

This is the fictionalized version of the fight on Blair Mountain. When the coal miners are treated so horribly they tried to join a union and the mine operators fired them, threw them out of their homes and beat them.

There were a lot of characters and this took me longer to read than it should have. Perhaps I just didn't have enough time to devote to it and at one point but I found the amount of characters overwhelming and had trouble keeping track of what side they were on. I like stories more character driven and the only characters I found to be really fleshed out were Doc Moo and Big Frank. On the other hand I give high marks for writing, plot, intrigue and atmosphere and would definitely recommend this.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.

Thank You to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel showcases the dangers of mining in the 1920's mining industry and the power of the owners of mines as well as the lack of control the miners had over their own lives. This novel based on true events following miners trying to gain rights and safety measures to protect their lives through the development of unions. The owners are more interested in profit then the safety of their workers which leads to a violent confrontation between the different factions.
This is a great historical novel that I thoroughly enjoyed from page 1 to the very last page. Full of action, desperate measures, corrupt authorities and a fight for a better life.

“Law only serves them that’s in power. Ain’t no different than always...’Tis the victor who writes the history—and counts the dead.”

I’ve been an enthusiastic fan of author Taylor Brown since reading Gods of Howl Mountain, which was published in 2018. His new novel, Rednecks, is out now, and as with his earlier work, it is outstanding. My great thanks go to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the invitation to read and review.

Brown tells the story of the Battle of Blair Mountain, a very real large scale battle, complete with machine guns, helicopters, tens of thousands of angry, armed miners, and the U.S. Army, an event which really did take place in the Appalachian Mountains in 1921. Over a million rounds were fired, and then the story was suppressed by the government, bosses, and big business media.

In his author’s note, Brown tells us that the character of Dr. Muhanna, a heroic individual sympathetic to the cause of the miners, is based on his own great-grandfather. There is a meaty explanation of what parts of the story are based on the actual historical record, and what parts—small ones, to be sure—he has changed.

Apart from his skill as a writer and researcher, the thing that I have always loved best about Brown is his deep respect for the working class. It shines through every page of this novel. Mother Jones, the fiery Socialist labor organizer, is here as well, and she is possibly my favorite figure in American history. Unfortunately, she is not at her best here. Past ninety years of age and in poor health, she attempts to deceive the miners into quitting their struggle early once she learns that Washington, D.C. intends to send troops. It’s a pity that her many years of inspirational organizing and leadership are not on display here, but the facts are the facts, and this story is not, after all, chiefly about Mother, but about the miners, so I suppose that Brown has written it in the only honest way that it could be written. There are indeed passages that demonstrate her eloquence and loyalty to workers of every race and ethnicity.

As I read, I like to highlight passages to include as quotes in my review. This time, I came away with 53 quotes. Reluctantly, I am setting most of them aside; you will have to find them yourself. They’re better within the context of the story, anyway.

As a personal aside, I will mention that my own grandfather—“Papaw”—died of Black Lung disease in 1978 after having worked in a nonunion mine in South Dakota beginning in the eighth grade. He had to leave school and work fulltime, as there was not a social net back then, and he and his family would have starved if he had done otherwise. World War II brought him better fortunes, but coal dust, once lodged in the lungs, never leaves.

This is a gritty tale to be sure, one full of bloodshed and suffering, but also of immense courage and inspirational leadership. I read it in small bites lest it work its way into my dreams, until I reached the climax, at which point I had no choice in the matter, and was unable to put it down. This book is one of the year’s best. I highly recommend it to those that love labor history, historical fiction, or that just love a well-told story.