The Texas Rangers have alternately been described as "fearless men of sterling character" and "ruthless, brutal, and more lawless than the criminals they pursued." The truth, says Robert M. Utley in Lone Star Justice, "lies somewhere in between the extremes." The Rangers got their start in 1823, and for half a century they were "citizen soldiers periodically mobilized to fight Indians or Mexicans." They were professionalized in 1874, when they became lawmen employed by the state of Texas. Utley summarizes their colorful history under the leadership of figures like Jack Hays and Ben McCulloch. They came to national attention during the Mexican War, when they fought with distinction under Zachary Taylor at Monterey and also served as scouts throughout northern Mexico. As lawmen, they were noted for apprehending fugitives (the murdering outlaw John Wesley Hardin fell to one of their bullets) and controlling mobs, but they were less successful at putting bad guys behind bars (a problem that the author blames on "a defective criminal justice system"). At bottom, Lone Star Justice is a sober-minded but generally admiring assessment of a unique group of men. --John Miller