• The Feud

  • The Hatfields and McCoys: The True Story
  • By: Dean King
  • Narrated by: Dan Woren
  • Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (193 ratings)

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The Feud  By  cover art

The Feud

By: Dean King
Narrated by: Dan Woren
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Publisher's summary

For more than a century, the enduring feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys has been American shorthand for passionate, unyielding, and even violent confrontation. Yet despite numerous articles, books, television shows, and feature films, nobody has ever told the in-depth true story of this legendarily fierce-and far-reaching-clash in the heart of Appalachia.

Drawing upon years of original research, including the discovery of previously lost and ignored documents and interviews with relatives of both families, best-selling author Dean King finally gives us the full, unvarnished tale, one vastly more enthralling than the myth.

Unlike previous accounts, King's begins in the mid-19th century, when the Hatfields and McCoys lived side-by-side in relative harmony. Theirs was a hardscrabble life of farming and hunting, timbering and moonshining - and raising large and boisterous families - in the rugged hollows and hills of Virginia and Kentucky. Cut off from much of the outside world, these descendants of Scots-Irish and English pioneers spoke a language many Americans would find hard to understand. Yet contrary to popular belief, the Hatfields and McCoys were established and influential landowners who had intermarried and worked together for decades.

When the Civil War came, and the outside world crashed into their lives, family members were forced to choose sides. After the war, the lines that had been drawn remained - and the violence not only lived on but became personal. By the time the fury finally subsided, a dozen family members would be in the grave. The hostilities grew to be a national spectacle, and the cycle of killing, kidnapping, stalking by bounty hunters, and skirmishing between governors spawned a legal battle that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court and still influences us today.

Filled with bitter quarrels, reckless affairs, treacherous betrayals, relentless mercenaries, and courageous detectives, The Feud is the riveting story of two frontier families struggling for survival within the narrow confines of an unforgiving land. It is a formative American tale, and in it, we see the reflection of our own family bonds and the lengths to which we might go in order to defend our honor, our loyalties, and our livelihood.

©2013 Dean King (P)2013 Hachette Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about The Feud

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Get out the pad and pencil .....

Way way way too many names to even come close to remembering. Back in the 1860s, the national past time in the Ozarks appears to have been baby making as it was not uncommon for families to have 12 or more children. Just going back two generations on both the Hatfield and McCoy sides, Id guess close to 150 family members get mentioned. This does not include all the close friends and business associates and their families. Then all the politicians and such and their families. On second thought, better get 2 pads of paper.

It helped greatly that before listening to this audiobook, I had watched the History channel 2012 miniseries and knew the major players already. Without watching the minieries, I would have been totally lost. The miniseries varies somewhat with this book as the miniseries seems to favor the McCoy side and the book definately favors the Hatfield side

This book seems to downplay Johnsey Hatfield's relationships with the two McCoy cousins, Roseanne and Nancy. The book barely goes into the lives of these two gals.

This book is chock full of facts and tries to dispel the many myths concerning the feud. Where it falls short is that the listener sometimes has no idea who the author is talking about.

See the miniseries first, then you can give this book a try.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

IF YOU ARE A HISTORY BUFF, READ THIS!

What made the experience of listening to The Feud the most enjoyable?

Definitive history of the greatest feud in American History told with great detail and beautiful narration. The depiction of mountain life is wonderful. The author does a wonderful job, although complicated, of describing the relationships and heritages of those involved in this famous feud. The narrator's voice is soothing and easily to listen to for hours. I loved this book and you will too!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I'm torn

Narrator, I enjoyed the narration. Dan Woren has a good voice and uses different pitches for different characters.

Content: I've read reviews by descendants on both sides. Depending on the reviewer, this was a reprinting of sensationalized newspaper stories that aren't based on actual facts or it was an accurate, in-depth depiction of the feud.

Cast of Characters: Too many to keep track of. I ended up getting the Kindle digital print version as well to help keep everybody straight. This is a book that will need your undivided attention.

For those who are squeamish, there are graphic descriptions of violence against women and violent episodes in the feud in general. One incident in particular was so bad, I'll be skipping it in my next listen. And I will have to listen to it again as I didn't buy the print version until I was more than halfway through the audio version.

Also worth noting is that the narration does not always exactly match the words in the Kindle edition. If you're paying close attention, it can change the meaning of the sentence enough that you wonder which version is correct.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

best history book

kept my interest from start to finish. soared beyond my expectations. one of the best examples of book was far better than the movie. writer has done awesome research.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Loved the speaker's Casey Casem-esqe voice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book...except for a few spots that began to go off on a tangent, such as going into details other feuds. The book on the whole was very satisfying.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very hard to follow. Many characters to know.

I enjoyed the history of the story. I appreciate the amount of research that went into telling this story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome

In my opinion the writer did a great job creating a detailed description of the Feud between the families. My favourite parts:
-Accurately explaining the roots of the conflict in the civil war
-Fairly presenting both sides of the story – there did not seem to be a bias one way or the other
-Detailing how the families had relationships outside of the feud -> through marriage or business
-Explaining social and cultural norms during the time period (example – gathering for election parties)
-Weaving the stories of non-family participants into the narrative (such as the bounty hunters)

I highly recommend this book…great listening for anyone interested in true crime, or historical drama.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • D
  • 12-01-23

great feeling/perfect accent

fascinating story and detail you almost need a family tree in front of you while listening to the story to be able to follow all the connections

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent work!

An incredible undertaking to put this together. Great listen! Thank you for all the hard work and years bringing it together.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Horribly confusing. Excessive characters. Odd.

I found this entire audible book to be extremely boring and drifted off so many times just from trying to follow the storyline. Thought it was a waste of my time trying to keep up so I marked it "finished" less than half-way through.

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