Supporting both points of view with well-chosen anecdotes, a capable contribution to Ranger history. And though Utley breaks...
A rip-snortin’, six-guns-blazin’ saga of good guys and bad guys who were sometimes one and the same.
By taking on the Texas Rangers, Utley (The Lance and the Shield, 1993, etc.), an accomplished and well-regarded historian of the American West, risks treading on ground that is both hallowed and thoroughly documented. He skirts those issues by turning in a balanced history of the Rangers’ first hundred years, a period that covers the group’s transformation from a loosely organized band of citizen soldiers to a professional law-enforcement unit. Contemporary scholarship is divided on that era—some modern writers view the Rangers as heroic defenders of innocent pioneers against marauding Indians and Mexican banditos, but more are of the opinion that the Rangers were little better than a mounted adjunct of the KKK, bent on racist conquest and extermination. Both sides have their points, Utley admits: the history of the Rangers is full of incidents that show a contempt on the part of Anglo Texans for those they considered to be racially and culturally inferior—that is, anyone who was not an Anglo Texan. But it is also marked by episodes of uncommon valor wherein outnumbered and outgunned squads of lawmen subdued evildoers of all varieties. At their best, Utley writes, the Rangers were “daring, intrepid, well-trained men armed with repeating weapons [who] functioned as a highly disciplined team under an outstanding leader,” and the names of lawmen such as John Coffee Hays and Sul Ross continue to command respect among Texans who know their history.
Supporting both points of view with well-chosen anecdotes, a capable contribution to Ranger history. And though Utley breaks little new ground, he offers an accessible survey of some interesting—and bloody—times.Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-19-512742-0
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2002
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
