Summary

Few law enforcement agencies have attracted more publicity and attention than the Texas Rangers. Founded in 1823 and periodically reorganized to face new challenges, the Rangers served as frontier troops during the Texas Indian wars, as border-hopping counter-revolutionaries, and later as state police assigned to cases ranging from alcohol raids and kidnapping investigations to strike-breaking and riot control. The Texas Rangers details the exploits of this famous unit, tracing its history from its beginnings on the wild, lawless frontier to its performance in the modern world of drug trafficking, terrorism, organized crime, and serial murder.

Key topics covered include:

• Frontier wars
• Civil War and Reconstruction
• Prohibition and political corruption
• Bank-robbing gangs
• The Great Depression
• Drug wars
• Famous Texas Rangers
• Texas Rangers in popular culture.

Specifications

Full-color and black-and-white photographs. Sidebars. Chronology. Endnotes. Bibliography. Further resources. Index.

About the Author(s)

Michael Newton has published more than 220 books since 1977. His history of the Florida Ku Klux Klan, The Invisible Empire, won the Florida Historical Society's 2002 Rembert Patrick Award for "Best Book in Florida History," and his Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology was one of the American Library Association's Outstanding Reference Works in 2006. His nonfiction work includes more than 20 volumes for Facts On File and Chelsea House.