Coal in our Blood

For almost 200 years, coal miners in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, worked the rich coal deposits in the region. Coal in Our Blood tells the story of the industry and the dedicated men who undertook this dangerous, demanding and dirty work. Author Judith Hoegg Ryan, a historian and the daughter of a Pictou County miner, weaves together the stories of these men, chronicling the boom times of prosperity as well as the disasters that befell these tight-knit communities. Accompanying her text are photographs from miners’ family albums and archives. Originally published just months after the Westray mine disaster that killed 26 miners in an underground explosion, this new edition of Coal in Our Blood describes the aftermath of the tragedy, and brings the story of mining in Pictou County up to the present day.