Customer Reviews

A Texas Ranger

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It should be of little wonder that A Texas Ranger, originally printed in 1899, has been through several reprints. This small book remains one of the most readable and compelling accounts of life on the rough and rugged Texas frontier among the famed Texas Rangers in the 1870's. With a foreword by the noted western writer J. Frank Dobie, and an introduction by current day historian Stephen L. Harding, author N.A. Jennings recounts with clarity and intensity his first-hand experiences as a young easterner who comes to Texas to find his fortune. What Jennings actually finds is adventure beyond description in a land that abounds in beauty and majesty while frought with danger and hardship. The author's depictions of real-life events along the Texas-Mexico border are told in first person and include his recollections of fights at Las Cuevas and run-ins with such outlaws as King Fisher, John Wesley Hardin, and Sam Bass. The reader, through the eyes of this talented writer, is offered a look into the action-packed old West. The book serves to accentuate the impact that the daring and hearty young Rangers had in ridding the frontier of Mexican raiders and the lawless riffraff that found its way to Texas in the mid-nineteenth century. While A Texas Ranger makes an interesting read, the book itself is not without controversy. Famed Texas historian Walter Prescott Webb characterized the book as one that "abounds in errors and misrepresentations." However, Jennings fully acknowledges that his book, written some twenty-five years after his experiences in Texas, is based largely upon his recollections of events at the time and is adequately footnoted throughout. From this reviewer's perspective, A Texas Ranger is an interesting and engaging story, one that most readers will have a difficult time in putting down.

Amazon's search-inside feature does not allow you to read the informative introduction by the historian Stephen L. Hardin, who says, "Jennings himself admitted taking liberties." This is unfortunate, since surely the book, which is supposed to be non-fictional autobiography, is not all fiction. It is just impossible for the non-specialist to know how much of the book is fiction and how much not.

This book must be taken with a "grain of salt", as apparently it is loaded with fictionalized accounts, and mistakes. The author himself admitted "taking liberties" with his story. Having said all that, the book is really an enjoyable read, and gives a great account of what it was like to be a Ranger, even if all the facts don't line up. You will enjoy reading this book, and like me, it will make you want to find out more about their colorful history.