The Feud Audiobook By Dean King cover art

The Feud

The Hatfields and McCoys: The True Story

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Feud

By: Dean King
Narrated by: Dan Woren
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

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
Americas State & Local United States
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
Detailed Historical Research • Unbiased Perspective • Beautiful Narration • Comprehensive Facts • Uplifting Conclusion
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
As the description says, “Drawing upon years of original research, including the discovery of previously lost and ignored documents and interviews with relatives of both families, bestselling author Dean King finally gives us the full, unvarnished tale” of the feud. It was tough to listen to at times, but the book ended on an uplifting and positive note that I couldn’t possibly have expected.

An Uplifting End to a Tragic Tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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

Excellent work!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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.

best history book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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.

Loved the speaker's Casey Casem-esqe voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Riveting - these were some seriously dysfunctional families. It is a sad, sad, and depressing tale.

Informative but Disturbing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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

great feeling/perfect accent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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.

Get out the pad and pencil .....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A Deep Dive Into My Wild Family Tree
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As someone who’s both a Hatfield and a McCoy (yes, seriously), I was especially thankful for a well-researched book like The Feud. It takes a thoughtful, deeper look into the blurred lines between folklore and fact—something that’s often missing from pop culture retellings of this infamous rivalry.

That said, keeping track of what feels like a thousand “feudists” was no easy task. Who did what to who, and why, and then who retaliated when—it’s a lot. But still, it’s a fascinating, gritty, and important telling of a story that shaped more than just a couple of last names.

If you're ready for a history book with drama, bloodlines, and a whole lot of “you’re not gonna believe this,” this one delivers.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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

Very hard to follow. Many characters to know.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The Feud is a good factual account.It is only part 1. Part 2 is being written today.The performance by the narrator brought the stories to life. Creating visual scenes in the mind. Many stories. Wonderful.

The Feud Two thumbs up

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews