I wanted to give this book four stars, but I felt some of the information added at the end was superfluous. After covering the feud, the author discusses some other topics. I enjoyed the chapter on other feuds and wanted more of that. Her discussion of possible reasons for the feud was also superb, and her look at Appalachian culture was interesting. Some of the material on her own genealogy was relevant, but some seemed to drag on a bit, and the author seemed to repeat herself at times.

Having said that, if you are looking for a good overview of accounts of the Hatfield/McCoy feud, then look no further. As Alther points out, no one can know what "really" happened in some cases, since there are differing, biased accounts of several events, but she has obviously researched well. The result is a strong, thorough overview of the feud that takes into account the perspectives of several different researchers, historians, and descendants of the feudists. Definitely worth reading.