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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 331.89282233409754
EAN num: 9780465077731
ISBN number: 0465077730
Label: Basic Books
Manufacturer: Basic Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 296
Printing Date: July 25, 2006
Publishing house: Basic Books
Sale Popularity Level: 104015
Studio: Basic Books
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'The Battle of Blair Mountain is historical narrative at its best.' (Christian Science Monitor)
In 1921, some 10,000 West Virginia coal miners-- outraged over years of brutality and exploitation-- picked up their Winchesters and marched against their tormentors, the powerful mine owners who ruled their corrupt state. For ten days the miners fought a pitched battle against an opposing legion of deputies, state police, and makeshift militia. Only the intervention of a Federal expeditionary force ended this undeclared war. In The Battle of Blair Mountain, Robert Shogan shows this long-neglected slice of American history to be a saga of the conflicting political, economic, and cultural forces that shaped the power structure of twentieth-century America.
'A mesmerizing, rarely mentioned piece of labor history, crackingly told.' (Kirkus, starred review)
'Riveting and well researched.' (Library Journal)
'Concise, dramatic and authoritative.' (Publishing houses Weekly)
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Rated by buyers 
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Rather than repeat the numerous errors cited by others, allow me to recommend When Miners March: The Story of Coal Miners in West Virginia, by W.C. Blizzard. A factual account of the events by the son of Bill Blizzard.
Rated by buyers -
Shogan's book is a rehash of formerly published ill informed texts. His photos are commonly available and serve to mislead rather than inform--focusing on Sid Hatfield rather than Bill Blizzard. Despite the title, Blair Mountain does not make the index till page 184. Two points should suffice to give a gist of the quality of this work. He repeatedly refers to the Red Bandana Army--while any miner knows that no such fiction ever existed. It was the RED NECK Army, led by Bill Blizzard who later would lead District 17 to dominate the coal fields of West Virginia. Second, and of critical import, Mr Shogan did not even bother to interview William C. Blizzard. W.C. Blizzard is Bill's son, was in the court room when his daddy was acquitted, and wrote the only truly informed history of the Battle back in 1952! On the bright side, I purchased a new,hard bound, autographed, copy of this $26 book for $1.95 on Amazon.
Rated by buyers -
Having read Denise Giardina's fictional account of events surrounding the battle (Storming Heaven), having seen John Sayles' film "Matewan," and having viewed the account as offered in the West Virginia documentary of a few years back, I was hoping for some fairly extensive background into the conflict.
Some background is provided -- the book is not a waste for those who have some familiarity with the events. For those without fairly extensive knowledge, the book should prove an eye-opener. Yes, there was a time in this fair nation when corporations had rights and individuals -- human beings who suffered the ignonomy of not being rich -- did not. The economic schism we are plunging into presently existed before, and men whose only crime was demanding to be paid fairly for their work were treated as criminals and rebels.
Shogan provides some insight into the political world that allowed these injustices as well as a good account of the Battle and the events leading up to it. Again, not quite as much background as I had hoped for, but the book is more than good enough to make an impression. Valuable reading!
Rated by buyers 
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I was disappointed with this book after reading several of the academically oriented histories of the period that go into detail about the war particularly from the miners' point of view. I hope for more detail on the actual happenings of the battle, more focus on its aftermath. Shogan is a journalist who seems to have had a fascination with this incident for decades. However, it seems that his career as a Washington based reporter, has shifted too much of this story inside the beltway (of course before the beltway was conceived.)
Shogun spends too much time talking about the reactions of politicians in Washington and for that matter politicians in West Virginia. He will not only tell you what they did, but give you their entire life background. He does this with the union officials on a national level like John Mitchell and John L. Lewis without giving us much of a picture of what their roles were in the union strategy inside West Virginia or with the federal government.
Given the abundance of books that are much better researched about the general struggle for West Virginia coal in the very first decades of the 20th Century, I had hoped that Shogan would not provide a rehash of what had already been written. Unfortunately, this is exactly what he did with anecdote and a general outline that appears to have been taken from other texts without much thought.
Likewise, I hoped that he would zero in and provide many more details about the actual battle, which is, after all the subject of his book, but there really isn't much in here that you can't find elsewhere, and elsewhere there is much more serious discusion of the struggle that led to the battle and the economics and politics and sociology of both miners and the coal bosses.
One wishes, someone outside the beltway and close enough to a coal camp had written this story, or even some military writer who is used to giving details of battles.
Rated by buyers 
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Detailed yet highly enjoyable account of WV coal field battles. A must for labor and union advocates.
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