ISBN 0440235502

October Sky

by Homer Hickam

Coal Mining and the mining industry in general is on everyone's mind these days after following the tragic events of cave-ins and trapped miners filling the newscasts..

And while October Sky is more about Homer Hickam's adventures with home-grown rockets (before he became an engineer at NASA), the adventures take place in a coal mining town in West Virginia in the 1950's, peopled by coal mining people, and the unique society in which they live.

It is a wonderful look at life and country values through the eyes of young Hickam in the days of his rocket experiments, and the struggle of the miners to live in their environment or escape from it..

It's also a great story, and an easy read.

 

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ISBN 0641823843

Coal: A Human History

by Barbara Freese

The History of Coal Mining from the point of view of Barabara Freese, an assistant attorney general of Minnesota for twelve years, is both a well researched book and a great piece of writing. The book begins in 1306 London, detailing the life and relationship between man and coal of that time in such a way that you feel like you're really there.

 

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