Flames and Embers of Coal

FLAMES & EMBERS OF COAL, hardcover, 388 pages, is a historical novel written by the late Dr. Ellis Wynne Roberts of Wilkes-Barre, PA. The novel, with its setting in the anthracite coal regions of northeastern Pennsylvania, covers a period of industrial strife which spread around the national railroad strike of 1877. In Scranton, PA, the iron workers & coal miners joined in the strike & threatened to paralyze the city. There is a strong historical base for the novel. Recounting the Avondale Mine Disaster of 1869 provides a vivid description & introduction to the daily dangers & death faced by coal miners & their families. History of the labor union movement in the coal fields is detailed with the activities of Terrence Powderly, Grand Master Workman of the Knights of Labor (1879-1893) & John Mitchell, President of the United Mine Workers (1898-1908). The fictional Welsh-American family, the Rodericks, are the vehicle for a heart-warming description of family life during those tumultuous times. Their personal lives are reminiscent of those of thousands of immigrants of every nationality who came to northeastern Pennsylvania to mine coal. FLAMES & EMBERS OF COAL (Wilkes-Barre, National Welsh-American Foundation, 24 Carverton Rd., Trucksville, PA 18708. $21.95 plus $2.50 s/h (Canada $3.25), US dollars, & $1.48 sales tax for Pennsylvania residents.Roberts, Ellis W. is the author of 'Flames and Embers of Coal' with ISBN 9780961641115 and ISBN 0961641118.