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
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
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
© Copyright 2024 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.
