In the Kingdom of Coal: An American Family and the Rock That Changed the World

by Dan Rottenberg

Overview

First Published in 2003. This volume charts the history of anthracite coal mining industry and developments around the Josiah White rolling mill in Philadelphia, the Lehigh Coal Mining Company created in 1972 in Pennsylvania, Canal and railroad developments, John Leisenring and Sharpe, Leisenring and Co; and Westmoreland from 1794 to 1999.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415935227
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/30/2003
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1370L (what's this?)

About the Author

Dan Rottenberg is a former Wall Street Journal reporter and the author of seven books, including Revolution on Wall Street: The Rise and Decline of the New York Stock Exchange. He has written for The New York Times Magazine, Forbes, Rolling Stone, playboy and Town and Country.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION: The Message in the Necho Allen Hotel Leisenring and Givens family trees PROLOGUE: 'There Will Come a Time' PART I: MAUCH CHUNK 1.'A Rock That Burns' 2. A Route From the Mines 3. Holy Trinity 4. Boy Wonder of the Anthracite 5. Souls in Darkness 6. A Road Not Taken PART II: CONNELLSVILLE 7. The Ambitions of Henry Clay Frick 8. At War in the Coke Fields PART III: BIG STONE GAP 9. Starting Over 10. The Rise of John L. Lewis 11. Utopia Goes Union 12. Be Careful What You Wish For 13. Prelude to Murder PART IV: TO THE POWDER RIVER 14. The Age of Uncertainty 15. Riding the Roller Coaster 16. Nowhere to Hide EPILOGUE: A Hyacinth Blooms at Imboden APPENDIX 1.Chronology 2. Principal Characters 3. Notes 4. Bibliography 5. Acknowledgements 6. Index

Editorial Reviews

"In a superb balancing act, Dan Rottenberg deftly portrays the quixotic tycoons who were determined to succeed at any cost while keeping the reader attuned to how this black substance literally revolutionized American society. There is backroom intrigue involving the likes of Carnegie, Frick, and Rockefeller; bloody warfare between capital and labor; and political shenanigans that reverberate today. With diligent research, personal insight, and spirited language, Rottenberg transforms the machinations driving the coal industry into a raucous and lively ride through history." — Peter Krass, author of Carnegie
"This is two histories for the price of one: a history of America's most abundant and important natural resource and a history of the people it has warmed, made rich, and used up. Both are great tales well told." — James T. Baker, author of Andrew Carnegie: Robber Baron as American Hero

"In the Kingdom of Coal is an interesting and provocative account of two centuries of caol mining in the United States." — Alan Banks, Eastern Kentucky University, Journal of Appalachian Studies

From the Publisher

"Coal," writes former Wall Street Journal reporter Rottenberg (Revolution on Wall Street), has been "the critical force driving the modern world for the past two centuries." Rottenberg tries, with varying success, to animate that history with a well-written account of two families tied together by the busts and booms of the coal industry as it evolved from an almost agricultural endeavor in the late 18th century into a highly mechanized but physically and financially dangerous modern corporate enterprise. One family, the Leisenrings, owned and operated major American mining companies for five generations. The second family, the Givenses, worked the mines of eastern Virginia for most of the 20th century. Rottenberg's background as a financial writer stands him in good stead as he skillfully traces the relationship between technical advances that made coal a more economically feasible source of energy and the infrastructure changes (canals and later railroads) that facilitated the movement of coal. His treatment of larger events the unionization of manufacturing industries, the Great Depression, WWII and the Vietnam War expands the book's reach to reflect factors that influenced all of American industry. Rottenberg's access to materials about the Leisenrings enlivens his discussion of the corporate side of the coal equation. His account of the Givens family, whose lifestyle and culture are not as well documented, is less engaging. Rottenberg is particularly good on the rise and fall of the United Mine Workers and its charismatic union icon John L. Lewis and his successor, Tony Boyle, who was convicted of the murder of union rival Jack Yablonski. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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