
Days of Darkness
The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Gary Roelofs
-
By:
-
John Ed Pearce
About this listen
Among the darkest corners of Kentucky's past are the grisly feuds that tore apart the hills of Eastern Kentucky from the late 19th century until well into the 20th. Now, from the tangled threads of conflicting testimony, John Ed Pearce, Kentucky's best-known journalist, weaves engrossing accounts of six of the most notorious accounts to uncover what really happened and why. His story of those days of darkness brings to light new evidence, questions commonly held beliefs about the feuds, including long-running feuds - those in Breathitt, Clay Harlan, Perry, Pike, and Rowan Counties.
What caused the feuds that left Kentucky with its lingering reputation for violence? Who were the feudists, and what forces - social, political, financial - hurled them at each other? Did Big Jim Howard really kill Governor William Goebel? Did Joe Eversole die trying to protect small mountain landowners from ruthless Eastern mineral exploiters? Did the Hatfield-McCoy fight start over a hog? For years Pearce has interviewed descendants of feuding families and examined skimpy court records and often fictional newspaper articles. Now he puts to rest some of the more popular legends.
The book is published by University Press of Kentucky.
©1994 The University Press of Kentucky (P)2016 Redwood AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Kentucky Bloodbath
- Ten Bizarre Tales of Murder From The Bluegrass State
- By: Kevin Sullivan
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Listeners who find themselves with this new work from the author of Vampire: The Richard Chase Murders, and The Bundy Murders are in for an excursion into the weird and the bizarre. From a medieval-esque murder in a small town museum to the jilted boyfriend who decided that his former girlfriend needed to die on her 21st birthday. And then there's the demented son who returns home to live with his mother and stepfather, and one night in their beautiful mansion sitting atop a high bluff overlooking the Ohio River, slaughters them. Each case will keep you on the edge of your seat.
-
-
Great read
- By Wanda on 09-07-15
By: Kevin Sullivan
-
Outliers
- The Story of Success
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this stunning audiobook, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers" - the best and the brightest, the most famous, and the most successful. He asks the question: What makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: That is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing.
-
-
Engaging, but overrated
- By Scott T. Hards on 12-13-08
By: Malcolm Gladwell
-
The Kentucky Cannibal: The True Story of an Outlaw, Murderer and Man-Eater
- True Crime
- By: Ryan Green
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1850, following a divorce and a number of encounters with the law, Boone Helm headed "Out West" to chase the Californian Gold Rush with his cousin. When his cousin pulled out at the last minute, Helm was incensed, and brutally stabbed him to death. Helm was detained in an asylum for the mentally disturbed but managed to escape. Helm continued his journey west with renewed vigour, where he opportunistically killed and consumed the flesh of adversaries and travelling companions, earning him the nickname "The Kentucky Cannibal"....
-
-
Omg! Best *climax* eva!
- By SisterSeven on 05-10-21
By: Ryan Green
-
Talking to Strangers
- What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true? While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you’ll hear the voices of people he interviewed - scientists, criminologists, military psychologists.
-
-
Enjoyable listen with some facts incorrect
- By Jim on 09-11-19
By: Malcolm Gladwell
-
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
- By: Ian W. Toll
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss. Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative.
-
-
Astonishingly good.
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-01-12
By: Ian W. Toll
-
Soul Full of Coal Dust
- A Fight for Breath and Justice in Appalachia
- By: Chris Hamby
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Decades ago, a grassroots uprising forced Congress to enact long-overdue legislation designed to virtually eradicate black lung disease and provide fair compensation to coal miners stricken with the illness. Today, however, both promises remain unfulfilled. Levels of disease have surged, the old scourge has taken an aggressive new form, and ailing miners and widows have been left behind by a dizzying legal system, denied even modest payments and medical care.
-
-
A perfect blend of informational and interesting
- By Josh Boyle on 09-12-20
By: Chris Hamby
-
Kentucky Bloodbath
- Ten Bizarre Tales of Murder From The Bluegrass State
- By: Kevin Sullivan
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Listeners who find themselves with this new work from the author of Vampire: The Richard Chase Murders, and The Bundy Murders are in for an excursion into the weird and the bizarre. From a medieval-esque murder in a small town museum to the jilted boyfriend who decided that his former girlfriend needed to die on her 21st birthday. And then there's the demented son who returns home to live with his mother and stepfather, and one night in their beautiful mansion sitting atop a high bluff overlooking the Ohio River, slaughters them. Each case will keep you on the edge of your seat.
-
-
Great read
- By Wanda on 09-07-15
By: Kevin Sullivan
-
Outliers
- The Story of Success
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this stunning audiobook, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers" - the best and the brightest, the most famous, and the most successful. He asks the question: What makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: That is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing.
-
-
Engaging, but overrated
- By Scott T. Hards on 12-13-08
By: Malcolm Gladwell
-
The Kentucky Cannibal: The True Story of an Outlaw, Murderer and Man-Eater
- True Crime
- By: Ryan Green
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1850, following a divorce and a number of encounters with the law, Boone Helm headed "Out West" to chase the Californian Gold Rush with his cousin. When his cousin pulled out at the last minute, Helm was incensed, and brutally stabbed him to death. Helm was detained in an asylum for the mentally disturbed but managed to escape. Helm continued his journey west with renewed vigour, where he opportunistically killed and consumed the flesh of adversaries and travelling companions, earning him the nickname "The Kentucky Cannibal"....
-
-
Omg! Best *climax* eva!
- By SisterSeven on 05-10-21
By: Ryan Green
-
Talking to Strangers
- What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true? While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you’ll hear the voices of people he interviewed - scientists, criminologists, military psychologists.
-
-
Enjoyable listen with some facts incorrect
- By Jim on 09-11-19
By: Malcolm Gladwell
-
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
- By: Ian W. Toll
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss. Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative.
-
-
Astonishingly good.
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-01-12
By: Ian W. Toll
-
Soul Full of Coal Dust
- A Fight for Breath and Justice in Appalachia
- By: Chris Hamby
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Decades ago, a grassroots uprising forced Congress to enact long-overdue legislation designed to virtually eradicate black lung disease and provide fair compensation to coal miners stricken with the illness. Today, however, both promises remain unfulfilled. Levels of disease have surged, the old scourge has taken an aggressive new form, and ailing miners and widows have been left behind by a dizzying legal system, denied even modest payments and medical care.
-
-
A perfect blend of informational and interesting
- By Josh Boyle on 09-12-20
By: Chris Hamby
-
Killers of the Flower Moon
- The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Will Patton, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
-
-
An outstanding story, highly recommended
- By S. Blakely on 06-22-17
By: David Grann
-
Devil in the Grove
- Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
- By: Gilbert King
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arguably the most important American lawyer of the 20th century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of bringing the landmark suit Brown v. Board of Education before the US Supreme Court when he became embroiled in a case that threatened to change the course of the civil rights movement and to cost him his life. In 1949, Florida's orange industry was booming, and citrus barons got rich on the backs of cheap Jim Crow labor with the help of Sheriff Willis V. McCall, who ruled Lake County with murderous resolve....
-
-
the fight for civil rights
- By Jean on 01-17-14
By: Gilbert King
-
The Feud
- The Hatfields and McCoys: The True Story
- By: Dean King
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Get out the pad and pencil .....
- By Alan on 10-15-13
By: Dean King
-
Texas
- A Novel
- By: James A. Michener
- Narrated by: Larry McKeever
- Length: 64 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Texas: a land of sprawling diversity and unparalleled richness; a dazzling chapter in the history of our nation; a place like no other on Earth. Through the remarkable lives of four families, this epic saga spans four centuries and two continents and charts the dramatic formation of several great dynasties from the age of the conquistadors to the present day. A richly compelling novel of a proud people eager to meet the challenge of the land, Texas is James Michener's most magnificent achievement.
-
-
Great Story...but then there was the narration
- By Jim on 03-03-16
-
Go Down Together
- The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde
- By: Jeff Guinn
- Narrated by: Jonathan Hogan
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With dramatic flair, Jeff Guinn delivers the definitive portrait of Bonnie and Clyde. These media-savvy outlaws appealed to America's Depression-era hunger for swashbuckling characters. Glowing radio and newspaper reports transformed these "public enemies" into celebrities - much like the cinema gangsters of the time.
-
-
Bravo!
- By Tim on 09-09-09
By: Jeff Guinn
-
The Lynching
- The Epic Courtroom Battle That Brought Down the Klan
- By: Laurence Leamer
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a Friday night in March 1981, Henry Hays and James Knowles scoured the streets of Mobile in their car, hunting for a black man. The young men were members of Klavern 900 of the United Klans of America. They were seeking to retaliate after a largely black jury could not reach a verdict in a trial involving a black man accused of the murder of a white man. The two Klansmen found 19-year-old Michael Donald walking home alone.
-
-
Very Readable
- By Jean on 06-10-16
By: Laurence Leamer
-
Billy the Kid
- The Endless Ride
- By: Michael Wallis
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid", who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of 21, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw.
-
-
Disappointing
- By MJTCPA on 07-30-11
By: Michael Wallis
-
American Crucifixion
- The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church
- By: Alex Beam
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 27, 1844, a mob stormed the jail in the dusty frontier town of Carthage, Illinois. Clamorous and angry, they were hunting down a man they saw as a grave threat to their otherwise quiet lives: The founding prophet of Mormonism, Joseph Smith. They wanted blood. At thirty-nine years old, Smith had already lived an outsized life. In addition to starting the Church of Latter-Day Saints and creating his own "Golden Bible" - the Book of Mormon - he had worked as a water-dowser and treasure hunter.
-
-
All religious histories are not created equal
- By Kendra on 07-01-14
By: Alex Beam
-
The Bloody Shirt
- Terror after Appomattox
- By: Stephen Budiansky
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 1866 to 1876, more than 3,000 free African Americans and their white allies were killed in cold blood by terrorist organizations in the South. Over the years, this fact would not only be forgotten, but a series of exculpatory myths would arise to cover the tracks of this orchestrated campaign of atrocity and violence.
-
-
Boring
- By W. Max Hollmann on 09-16-08
-
Man-Eater
- The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the winter of 1873, a small band of prospectors lost their way in the frozen wilderness of the Colorado Rockies. Months later, when the snow finally melted, only one of them emerged. His name was Alfred G. Packer, though he would soon become infamous throughout the country under a different name: "the Man-Eater."
-
-
Made me hungry. Just kidding.
- By daniel on 05-01-17
By: Harold Schechter
-
Texas Ranger
- The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde
- By: John Boessenecker
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the horseback days of the Old West through the gangster days of the 1930s, Hamer stood on the front lines of some of the most important and exciting periods in American history. He participated in the Bandit War of 1915, survived the climactic gunfight in the last blood feud of the Old West, battled the Mexican Revolution's spillover across the border, protected African Americans from lynch mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, and ran down gangsters, bootleggers, and Communists.
-
-
I love Frank Hamer, but Boessenecker's left leanin
- By A. Taylor on 04-06-19
-
Midnight Rising
- John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War
- By: Tony Horwitz
- Narrated by: Dan Oreskes
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U.S. history. But few Americans know the true story of the men and women who launched a desperate strike at the slaveholding South. Now, Midnight Rising portrays Brown's uprising in vivid color, revealing a country on the brink of explosive conflict. Brown, the descendant of New England Puritans, saw slavery as a sin against America's founding principles. Unlike most abolitionists, he was willing to take up arms, and in 1859 he prepared for battle at a hideout in Maryland....
-
-
Up from Obscurity
- By Lynn on 06-18-12
By: Tony Horwitz