To most Americans, Frank Hamer is the "villain" in the 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde. In Texas Ranger, historian John Boessenecker argues that Hamer was in fact a classic American hero. His career began in the horseback days of the Old West and lasted through the gangster days of the 1930s, only to be ended when he ran up against another legendary Texan: Lyndon B. Johnson.Hamer stood on the frontlines of some of the most important and exciting periods in American history. From participating in the Bandit War of 1915, to surviving the climactic gunfight in the last blood feud of the Old West, to battling the Mexican Revolution's spillover across the border, to protecting African-Americans from lynch mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, to running down gangsters, bootleggers, and Communists, Hamer's life story offers an inside look at early 20th-century America.For readers of Hampton Sides, S.C.

Gwynne, and Jeff Guinn, Texas Ranger is the first biography to tell the full story of this near-mythic lawman.S hould be required reading for students of Ranger history. The level of original research here is apparent and Boessenecker leaves no stone unturned in his sleuthing of Hamer's past and his 52 gun battles. This is an action-packed story that does not read like a traditional biography. -Stephen L. Moore, author of Texas Rising: The Epic True Story of the Lone Star Republic and the Rise of the Texas Rangers, 1836-1846 "Well researched, extremely well written, thorough-a fine tribute to one of the greatest lawmen of the 20th century." -Robert M. Utley, author o f Lone Star Justice: The First Century of the Texas Rangers.