Rednecks

Taylor Brown

A historical drama based on the Battle of Blair Mountain, pitting 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.

Rednecks is a tour de force, big canvas historical novel that 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 American soil, and the term “redneck” would come to have an unexpected origin story.

Featuring real-life and invented characters--men and women, adults and children, Black and white and immigrants from many countries who worked in the dangerous West Virginia coal mines--Rednecks tells a dramatic story of rebellion against oppression. Taylor Brown introduces crucial point of view characters: "Doc Moo" Muhanna, a Lebanese-American doctor (inspired by the author’s own great-grandfather) who serves the mining camps; Frank Hugham, a Black miner who helps lead the miners' revolt; Frank's mother Beulah, who fights to save her home and her son; and true-life folk hero "Smilin" Sid Hatfield, a sharp-shooting sheriff who dares to stand up to the “gun thugs” of the coal companies. These and other characters come fully to life in a propulsive, character-driven tale that’s both a century old and blisteringly contemporary: a story of unexpected friendship, heroism in the face of injustice, and the power of love and community against outsized odds.

Through inspired portraits of real-life characters including legendary union organizer Mother Jones, to dynamic battle scenes set in the West Virginia hill country, award-winning novelist Taylor Brown reimagines one of the most compelling events in 20th century American history.