This work explores the history of coal mining in Macoupin County, Illinois. As coal mining becomes the driving force in the economic and political life of the area, changes occur in the communities built around the four Superior Coal Company mines.

This little practiced form of scholarship requires the blending of perspectives. It gives the evaluative and mostly dispassionate view of a mature historian drawing from many sources to recount the coal miners' plight. On the other hand, it presents life through the eyes of a child growing from innocence to adulthood as he gradually comes to realize and accept how bleak the situation really is in the Illinois coal mines.

A history of Cle Elum and Roslyn, two coal mining towns in Washington state. The book begins with a brief introduction to the area's geological origins. Chapters address Native American residents, the pioneer era, the discovery of coal and the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway, mining and logging, the decline of coal mining, and the end of the coal mining era. Note: Roslyn, WA, was the filming location for the popular television series "Northern Exposure."