4 red bandana stars

Have you ever heard of the Battle of Blair Mountain or the Matewan Massacre? This slice of history has been mostly forgotten when it was the largest armed conflict since the Civil War. Author Taylor Brown brings it back to life in this book with wonderful writing.

In the early 1920s, coal mining ruled the state of West Virginia. The owners of those mines were kings. They ran the company store, had their own police, and bribed everyone else. They also did not create a safe workplace for the miners and used violence and intimidation to keep everyone in line. It’s no wonder that unions tried to take hold to improve things.

Things built to a huge uprising, with 10,000 coal miners (from several states) up against the mine owners, state police, and eventually even the US government. This is also where the term redneck (the miners wore red bandanas around their necks) became part of slang, “originally used in the popular media to denigrate an Appalachian working-class uprising as backward, uneducated, and dangerous, and the stereotype and negative use of the term persists today.”

This was not an easy book to read as countless men were killed, and the underhand tactics the mine owners used were appalling. They even dropped two bombs filled with shrapnel to kill and maim as many as possible.

There was a great character in this one – Doc Moo – a Lebanese doctor who treats everyone, but eventually sides with the miners. This character is based on the author’s own great-grandfather. There are other real historical people in this one – Mother Jones and Smilin’ Sid Hatfield.

I am glad to have more knowledge about these historical events, and this book will stay with me.

Don’t miss the author’s note and resources at the end.

Great historical fiction about coal miners in WV. My dad was from WV and his dad loaded coal on the mountain trains so I was fascinated by this story that I knew nothing about. Very well written. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this early copy for read and review

A true poetic recounting of what it is to give your life so other people can enrich themselves, so your family can survive. A story of people driven by whats right, and some by what's wrong.
Words can't do justice to this masterpiece.

Rednecks by Taylor Brown

Now I know one of the origins of the term redneck. Through this book I've also learned details of the Virginia Mine Wars which include the Matewan Massacre through to the Battle of Blair Mountain, covering 1920-1921. The author makes use of characters based on real people but we also see the actions of historical figures during this story. Some of my favorite characters are Dr. Moo and his son, Frank and his grandmother, and the brave unnamed people who stepped in to help those who needed help.

The treatment of the coal miners and their families was horrible. When miners demanded better pay, living conditions, and the ability to get out from under being forced to have all their wages go to company owned stores, the mine owners refused the demands of the miners. Instead they hired agents to clear out the miners and their families. Since the companies kept the miners in such dire straits that they owned nothing, they were reduced to living in union coal camps or where ever they could set up a tent in the mud and muck.

Both sides armed themselves, the miners and the company owners with their hired agents, and events led to a second Civil War. The coal companies had the advantage of mercenaries who were experienced after their successes in various wars, people who would work for the highest bidder and that highest bidder would be the coal companies since the coal miners had nothing to offer.

But the coal miners also had war experience and the physical strength of years of hard work (if that hard work under bad conditions hadn't worn them down too much). They were fighting for their lives and the lives and futures of their families and each violent act of the coal companies fired up the coal miners more...that is unless the threats from the coal company and the agents didn't scare them enough to back off. These were not idle threats, men were being "disappeared" never to be seen or heard from again. Men were beaten to a literal pulp and/or left dead for all to see.

These battles were never going to have a happy ending but they did eventually lead to reforms. This book is hard to read and there is nary a bit of fluff to make the reading easier. The resourcefulness of man to harm man never ceases to appall but it's important to know the past so we can try to do better in the future. This story made for a great buddy read with DeAnn.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Five screechin' and blazin' stars for Rednecks.

It seems that whatever Taylor Brown presents guarantees a literary imprint on the surface of one's mind. Brown takes on a heavy-duty subject that leans with its weight on American history. America is a surface of rolling terrains and profound beauty. But then, lifting the curtain sheds light on deep pockets of a darkened past.

Taylor Brown takes us to May of 1920 and to Tug Valley in Mingo County of West Virginia. It's there that King Coal has a mighty grip on the coal mines and on the unfortunate workers who find themselves there. Life offers few options for those limited to the work of their hands. These were home grown men and those who newly immigrated such as the Poles and the Italians. King Coal set up company towns where families were relegated to shanty life or to flimsy tents on the properties. Food was at a premium and company stores charged exorbitant prices. You owed and you worked.

Worse yet were the dangerous working conditions in unvented mine shafts deep underground, An accident could end your source of income. Black Lung disease did an even quicker job. Coal dust was embedded in your trachea and seeped into the skin. Seeing daylight was a luxury.

Taylor Brown works his magic with his chosen characters.......some from real life and some that he has created in order to add flow to this profound storyline. We'll meet Dr. Domi Muhanna, a Lebanese-American physician, who worked among the miners. "Dr. Moo" brought hope along with his medical knowledge. He and his family were put in danger time and time again.

The story of the miners cannot be told without the real life character of Mother Jones, a ninety year old Irish woman who worked tirelessly as a labor organizer on behalf of the miners for years. Her black garbed figure was easily recognizable as she made her way from town to town.

Evil flowed in the veins of the coal companies who were heartless in their efforts to produce product. It all came to a massive head in the Battle of Blair Mountain with the miners against the companies and their Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. Taylor Brown holds nothing back. Workers were exposed to gunfire and even bombs. Many recalled the same atmosphere while serving during World War I. Rednecks is a memorable read and one in which Taylor Brown goes even beyond the printed word.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to the talented Taylor Brown for the opportunity.

Is it acceptable to say that I found this book to be so amazing that I can't possibly form a review? (At least not one suitable for sharing here.)

Though I live in a state not so far away, this is a piece of American history that I had not heard about. I have read about the horrors of mining, but not to the extent that were laid out in this historical drama novel. This book is set in the West Virginia coal mining area and is about a battle between the union supporters and the mine owners. It is well-researched and the detailed descriptions of the topography and the characters, some of which are real people, make visualizing the scenes easy. When I requested this one, I was a bit leery that it would read more like a textbook and not historical fiction. This was not the case. It is both informative and entertaining.
Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

This novel is based on the story of the largest labor uprising in American history. The 1920-1921 West Virginia Mine Wars .was the largest armed conflict on American soil since the Civil War. Coal companies used threats and violence along with abuse to try to keep their workers from unionizing. This is a story of the origins of today's unions and the hard fought battles that made the unions what they are today. Thanks @NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

The little-known 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain is the vivid backdrop for Brown’s compelling story, which gives voice to the thousands of coal miners who engaged in the largest armed insurrection on American soil. Historical characters deftly grab attention one hundred years on―Matewan Police Chief, Sid Hatfield (yes, those Hatfields) ― a staunch miners’ supporter and larger-than-life figure on the page and historically, who was shot dead on the McDowell County Courthouse steps; “Mother Jones,” a relentless advocate for workers’ rights well into her eighties; and union leader Bill Blizzard.

Opening with the shoot-out in Matewan between Sid and the coal barons’ hired guns, which exploded after mass firings and evictions of miners who refused to sign company contracts forbidding unionization, Brown’s settings and language command attention. Mingo County, West Virginia, last bastion of non-union coalmines―where men with “broad backs and brutal forearms” toiled seventy hours a week underground, fought for America against Nazi oppression and returned home to enslavement of a different sort. Powerful men, yes, but powerless where it counted. With Sid’s murder, years of pent-up anger are unleashed.

Set well into the 20th century, Rednecks maintains its Western frontier feel. Readers are ankle-deep in mud in Lick Creek, the tent village where the evicted miners’ families subsist, watching as their children starve. Three fictional giants, the endlessly compassionate Lebanese Doc Moo (Muhanna), courageous Big Frank Hugham, and his grandmother, Mama B, live and breathe on the page. The novel is a searing indictment of big business, a blistering story of the illegal suppression of human rights, and a tribute to the laborers who put their lives on the line to bring about change. In a story largely lost to history, plaudits to Brown for returning it to the spotlight. Exceptional!

This is a historical novel based upon the West Virginia mine wars in the early 1920s, the largest labor uprising in U.S. history, in which the term “redneck” as we now know it came into being. The characters are well developed, particularly that of Lebanese-American doctor “Doc Moo" Muhanna, who unselfishly aided many miners during the armed conflict that occurred, and the story is definitely an interesting one — and one that I had never heard of before. Additionally, the author’s prose really makes the storyline and characters come alive. All in all, this was a very interesting read on every level.

Rednecks is full of historical detail about an important moment in US history when coal miners found themselves facing off in a violent battle against local authorities acting primarily at the behest of company owners who, in the end, are ultimately supported by the US military. Told primarily from the perspective of the miners and their supporters, we learn how the company silenced and oppressed these West Virginians for attempting to ask for safer working conditions and to unionize. Brown dives deep into nuances in the history, from the different characters representing varied and numerous perspectives to the exploration of the roots of the motivation for the miners, local business owners, and politicians. I enjoyed the character development and historical analysis. Unfortunately, I often found myself bored with the overly detailed and often redundant explanations of events, locations, and mentions of quirks and descriptions of different characters.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this work.

This is the story of coal miners trying to unionize in West Virginia in 1920/1921. The coal miners were working in hazardous conditions for extremely long hours each day but yet the owners of the mines wouldn’t budge. The struggle became known as the Battle of Blair Mountain and was the largest labor uprising since the Civil War. This is the first time I had ever heard about this piece of American South history and I found it very interesting. This is the first book that I have read by this author but I will be looking at his other works.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I received a complimentary electronic copy of this excellent historical novel from Netgalley via Austin Adams, St. Martin's Press, and the author, Taylor Brown. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Rednecks of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am very pleased to recommend anything by Taylor Brown to friends and family. He gets your blood pounding and indignation at a boiling point without fail, emphasizing what makes America great by pointing out our flaws. These were not 'growing pains'. They were sins.

Rednecks is no exception. Taking place in Appalachia in 1920-1921 we are riding with the coal miners and their families as they struggle against the private army of the coal mine owners, virtual slaves to the system without recourse of any method to attain equality and a life worth living. It is hard to believe this is based on the facts of the largest labor uprising in American history, the Battle of Blair Mountain. It is hard to believe that this could happen in the U.S.. Believe it. Check out his research. It did. We have to make sure it can never happen, again.

For me, I think this book would have been a lot better written as nonfiction. The history was really interesting and something I didn't know much about, and also an important story of the oppressed rising up and getting beaten down. As a novel, though, it didn't have a central character with a development arc that I was following through—it didn't have much of a typical arc at all, and that made it really hard to get invested in. I honestly skimmed most of it because that was the only way I could get through all the many overly detailed battle scenes. I know there are people out there who would be all over this kind of story, but I just am not one of them. I need stories heavy on character, and this didn't have that. So, while I can recognize it had its merits, it really just wasn't for me.

This book hit VERY close to home for me as I have family from West Virginia and a long line of coal miners in my family history. My great-grandfather was a coal miner, just like many generations before him, and died due to black lung. This book honestly had me in tears at times just thinking about the situations that my great-grandfather went through and the fact that this was based on a true story.

I can't say enough about Taylor Brown and the feelings I had while reading this book. The execution of the characters and the retelling of this story had this book very hard to put down. The fact that not many people know that this event took place and shaped the community of such a small but vital part of America. I have no words for the emotions I felt while reading this. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, anyone that loves to read.

Rednecks (This review is from an ARC from NetGalley)
A Novel
by Taylor Brown

This is a historical drama based on the Battle of Blair Mountain. The novel
dramatizes the 1920 to 1921 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. It consisted of a multi-ethnic army of 10,000 coal miners against mine owners, state militia, and the United States government in the largest labor uprising in American history. The coal companies used violence and intimidation to keep miners from Unionizing. One of the main characters is “Doc Moo" Muhanna, a Lebanese-American doctor (inspired by the author’s own great-grandfather), toils amid the blood and injustice of the mining camps the fiery Mother Jones, an Irish-born labor organizer once known as "The Most Dangerous Woman in America," struggles to maintain the ear of the miners (the boys) as she calls them. There are many interesting characters in this book and the author illuminates the battle scenes vividly.
Rednecks tells a powerful story of rebellion against oppression.

I love historical novels that tell true stories in wonderful storytelling ways that grab the reader and teaches them about another time and place. Taylor Brown takes us back to 1921 in the Coal mining towns of West Virginia. The coal miners were treated very badly by the coal mining companies and the miners revolted in the biggest uprising since the Civil War. They fight for unionization and better lives for all the miners. The reader gets introduced o both sides of the issues. This is a book that will have you digging around the internet for more of their stories. The book is not fast read but is a fascinating glimpse into history..

I wish to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read a copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The atrocities of the true history of the coal miners to unionize in West Virginia unfolds forcefully in this novel. The greed and disregard for life of the coal barons brings hate filled and murderous men paid to enforce unlawful retaliation on the miners. The sins of the bought courts are a blight on the land. The miners take matters into their own hands and begin a brutal and ugly fight with the coal companies. They are hoping for better days for them and their families that unionization would bring.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A fictionalized account of what took place in the 1920's set in i West Virginia. Known as the Matewan Massacre through the Battle of Blair Mountain it was the largest conflict since the Civil War. As the unions moved in to improve the work conditions and salaries of the West Virginia coal miners, mine owners would fight back, striking the miners at the heart of their protest and often sending armed men against anyone who dared to speak. After many years of suffering in the mines and rough treatment outside the mines, these workers would take a stand, fighting for a better life for themselves and their families. A well researched and well written novel, Ms. Taylor gives the readers of HF a book filled with heroism in the face of injustice, and the power of love and community against all odds. Highly recommended.

"Rednecks" by Taylor Brown earns a resounding four stars for its compelling narrative that seamlessly weaves together history and fiction. Set against the backdrop of West Virginia and the Battle of Blair Mountain, the novel plunges readers into the heart of the largest labor uprising in American history. Brown's meticulous research and vivid imagination breathe life into the multi-ethnic army of 10,000 coal miners as they face off against mine owners, state militia, and the United States government.

Through richly drawn characters and gripping storytelling, Brown illuminates the complexities of this tumultuous period in American history. The struggles, sacrifices, and triumphs of the miners are rendered with authenticity and empathy, making their fight for justice and dignity deeply resonate with readers. Against the backdrop of the battle-scarred hills of Appalachia, Brown crafts a riveting historical drama that captures the spirit of resilience and solidarity in the face of overwhelming odds.

"Rednecks" is more than just a retelling of a pivotal moment in labor history—it is a testament to the power of ordinary people banding together to confront injustice and demand change. With its blend of action, emotion, and social commentary, this novel is a must-read for anyone interested in the untold stories of America's past. Prepare to be captivated from the first page to the last by Brown's masterful storytelling and profound insights into the human condition.