Annihilating The Hillbilly Redux: Appalachia’s Struggle Against America’s Institutions is a profoundly important book for the field of Appalachian studies that shares the author’s personal experiences, his insights, and evidence-based understanding of the ways and means by which the Appalachian Region has been historically exploited. And it dismantles the popularly accepted culture of poverty themes found in Vice President JD Vance’s 2016 best-seller, Hillbilly Elegy. Annihilating the Hillbilly Redux is to my memoir The Harlan Renaissance: Stories of Black Life in Appalachian Coal Towns what wind is beneath the wings of a raven. In Annihilating the Hillbilly Redux, Branscome is not merely retelling the story. RelatedRepublish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.