Wholesale The Nine Lives of Charles E. Lively (Hardcover)

The West Virginia & Colorado Coal Mine Wars of the early twentieth century was a violent time in our nation’s history. Central to this saga is Charles Everett Lively, one of the deadliest undercover agents of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. Nearly a century after the bloodshed in La Veta, Ludlow, Matewan, & Welch, the names William G. Baldwin, Thomas L. Felts, & Charles E. Lively still evoke hatred among coal mining communities. Lively killed at least three men, one in Colorado & two in West Virginia, and killing came easy for him. The Baldwin-Felts Agency, like Pinkerton, performed security tasks, including strike breaking for coal mine owners. The dangerous work in coal mines led to labor organizing, which mine owners disrupted through espionage. Lively’s coal mining roots helped him gather intelligence, even running a restaurant where union meetings occurred. R.G. Yoho has researched Lively to shed light on this controversial figure.