The second installment of a no-holds-barred look at the history of the famed Texas Rangers from western author Mike Cox
Following up on his magnificent history of the 19th century Texas Rangers, Mike Cox now takes us from 1900 through the present. From horseback to helicopters, from the frontier cattle days through the crime-ridden boom-or-bust oil field era, from Prohibition to World War II espionage to the violent ethnic turbulence of the '50s and '60s-which sometimes led to demands that the Texas Rangers be disbanded. Cox takes readers through the modern history of the famed Texas lawmen.
Cox's position as a spokesperson for the Texas department of Public Safety allowed him to comb the archives and conduct extensive personal interviews to give us this remarkable account of how a tough group of horse-borne lawmen, too prone to hand out roadside justice, critics complained-to one of the world's premier investigative agencies, respected and admired worldwide.
"A richly detailed and sweeping historical narrative.… This modern masterpiece does full justice to both the reality and the myth of the Texas Rangers"
a great organization of which I was honored to be a part for 27 years."
"Mike Cox has a unique background for presenting the checkered history of the Rangers. During several years as a spokesman for the Texas Department of Safety, he had access to detailed records and experienced first-hand the mystique that clings to this fabled law enforcement body. Though he gives us the flashes of glory, he does not flinch from the dark side of the Rangers' past."
Elmer Kelton, Texas legend and author of The Texas Rangers novel series
