The Kingdom of Coal: Work, Enterprise & Ethnic Communities in the Mine Fields

by Donald L. Miller

Reprint of a classic. Considered by scholars and history buffs alike to be the best survey history of the rise and fall of the anthracite mining industry in Pennsylvania, this volume chronicles the discovery of anthracite, the building of canals to transport it to market, the era when anthracite was a major stimulus for the building of railroads and the development of the iron industry, the struggles of miners to organize, and the effects that successive waves of immigrants had on northeastern Pennsylvania. It concludes with an examination of the continuing legacy of anthracite mining in the region, and of the economic and technological factors that brought about the decline of the Kingdom of Coal. The chapters on the people of the anthracite region are particularly absorbing. First published by University of Pennsylvania Press in 1985. Although the authors have an academic background, Kingdom of Coal is written in an easy-to-read style. Referenced, with an index.

Genres: History

360 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1985

About the author

Dr. Miller is the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History at Lafayette College and an expert on World War II, among other topics in American history. Three of his eight books are on WWII: D-Days in the Pacific (2005), the story of the American re-conquest of the Pacific from Imperial Japan; Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany (2006); and The Story of World War II (2001), all published by Simon & Schuster.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It does tell of the rise and fall of the anthracite industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania in a thorough but easily read style, with the emphasis on the different groups of people who really make up the story.

I am tangentially connected to the story in various ways. I went to Lafayette, where Donald Miller is a professor (but long before his time) and it was amusing to hear what horrible people the Pardees and Markles and the others who endowed Lafayette were. While I was at Lafayette, I shoveled anthracite into the furnaces of a local hotel in Easton four times a day for two years to earn my spending money. I was also in class and in a fraternity with numbers of students from the coal regions and learned first hand of their families' struggles to re-acclimate themselves to a post coal world.

I also was particularly interested by the descriptions of the cultural characteristics of the different immigrant ethnic groups and of how their backgrounds affected their views on life, family, and business. The anthracite region of Eastern Pennsylvania is a unique situation but the same ethnic values described in this book can be seen in studying other areas, such as Pittsburgh, where the same groups settled and altered the culture of an area.

[John Lomnicki, · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I selected this volume from my bookshelf, it had been there a while waiting for me. I was interested in coal mining and its history, but even though my day was a coal miner for 42 years, I never totally understood what was going on. My dad would explain to me that this was his profession of choice and that he enjoyed the work and the fellowship.

This book filled in many of the blanks and it was an engaging read. The detail of how and why decisions in the coal industry occurred as well as how the miners reacted now makes sense. Mr. Miller, I know that you did not make this book specifically for me, but the characters you describe were my relatives as well as my dads friends. Good job.

[Balloon Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book as a souvenir of a visit to coal country. It was a fascinating look at an American industry in the time of the robber barons. Things I took away:

How the various industries were all intertwined. Rails, steamships, coal, steel... each one needed the others;

How the owners played off one ethnic group against the other to discourage a unified work force and union;

How strong the communities had to be;

How heartless the owners were in their
treatment of their employees. They cheated them, provided no care for injured employees, ripped them off at the company stores,... heartless

How they abused children.

I am a capitalist, but this book made me think that there must be some reins on the exploitation of workers.

[Arminius · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a few years ago. As a remember it, it is a terrific book about the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania. It details the events from when Coal was King and why and when Oil usurped the position. Both labor unions and coal owners were to blame.

Coal owners treated workers miserably. Black balling workers who quit, making them work long, hard unsafe hours, having children pick rocks from the coal are just a few of the distressed conditions these workers had to endure from.

The workers would strike during the harsh winter months leaving customers without heat. All this happened while Oil was cheap and plentiful. So many customers switched to reliable oil to heat their homes.

I also like how he describes the close knit communities in which coal workers came from. I am from one of those communities and he nailed my experience long after the height of Coal.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this is poorly organized and written, there is a lot of good information here. The pictures are amazing and so are the stats!