As one who is friends with Jim Peters, I can recommend this book to anyone who is a Texas history buff, especially those with an interest in Ranger lore. Jim truly was a Ranger when "Rangers were Rangers".

Jim Peters has had a remarkable life, and it's fascinating to read about his adventures as a Texas Ranger. The author makes you feel as though you're right there with Peters and the Rangers as they piece together evidence and track down the bad guys. The fact that these are true crime stories makes them all the more interesting. The ones involving coldblooded killers make you grateful for the courage and dedication of men like Jim Peters. Other stories involving lesser crimes and dumb or unlucky criminals are very funny. A neat book.

Jim Peters, Texas Ranger is extremely readable as it consists of great stories of the activities of this reknowned and capable Texas Ranger. The Rangers, of course, are the best of the best, and Jim Peters was highly respected by his fellows. He was involved in the resolution of a lot of high-profile cases and the book is an interesting piece of both true crime and history.

This 237 page book tells the story of the defense of the Texas frontier from Indians, Jayhawkers, Unionists, and Deserters, by Texas Rangers, Texas State Troops, Frontier Regt, Bourland's Border Regt, and the Frontier Organization. Author David Paul Smith, has an extensive set of endnotes, index, and bibliography, which make this a great book for those who wish to probe this turbulent period in more detail.

The majority of the book deals with the region North and West of Fort Worth, although all of the Western frontier of Texas is covered. The author combines the facts with explanations to cover a period when reliable records are scarce and myth/legend are legion. Particularly impressive are the descriptions of the Elm Creek Raid and Battle of Dove Creek.

In addition, Frontier Defense also briefly covers strategy & tactics used before and during the War Between the States.

Simplified maps of the frontier districts are included, but a good map of Texas is needed unless the reader is very familiar with the frontier outposts. The free Texas Historical Commission map "Texas in The Civil War" is an essential item needed to accompany this book.

The border with Mexico, Gulf Coast, and Eastern Texas are not covered as this regions are beyond the scope of the work.

D. Smith has a talent for storytelling. In reading his book, I can almost hear his voice recounting so many stories (as he did when I was his student). Frontier Defense in the Civil War provides readers with a small piece of history rarely discussed. For those interested in the Civil War or the history of Texas, this is a fascinating book, and with Smith's wonderful prose, it a pleasure to read.

Having devoured every article Mr. Miraldi has written for 'Military Illustrated, Past & Present' I waited months in impatient anticipation when I discovered that he would author a book to be published by Schiffer, the renowned military publisher. Even the rather steep price did not deter me, however, when I finally received the book I found that my hard earned money might have been better spent elsewhere.

Mr. Miraldi seems to have fallen into the trap of over-expanding material to pad out the book. There are a number of faults with not only the material, but the layout of the book. Text referring to photographs often overlaps to following pages, requiring one to continually flip back a page to see what the text may be referring to. Considering the easily followed layout the author used in his magazine articles it is puzzling as to why he did not utilize it here as well.

Miraldi's heavy reliance on the works of Kevin Lyles and Shelby Stanton is evident in the material and confirmed by his footnotes, unfortunately he has opted not to expand on their work for the most part but merely emulate it using items from his own collection. He has borrowed Lyles' style of chronological depiction by year when I feel that if the content would have been more logically ordered by item type (eg. showing transition of the jungle fatigues from OG-107 to 1st, 2nd, 3rd OD then ERDLs.)

Many photographs are wasted. He has included individual close up photos of such inane items such as technical and field manuals, sewing kits, issue bibles - and even the back of a presentation plaque! It would have been better if several of these less important items were grouped together and all placed in one shot. The figure photos aren't all that much better. Some photos appear in different hues and would confuse the beginner collector. Many photos seem to have been done merely using a flash rather than professional lighting (the author even thanks a supermarket 1-hour photo stop in the credits!). Although this works for some photos this tends to create confusing hard shadow outlines and does not properly illuminate all areas of the uniform. Lyles' photos are superior.

Between Lyles and Miraldi, I think every permutation of VN webbing layout and OD uniform has been illustrated! There are some fanciful combinations - a LRP sporting a MP-40, a combat grenadier wearing camo shorts and if Miraldi and Lyles are to be believed, every pathfinder sported a radio and mike/headset and most grunts in 1971 had cut off sleeves and a 'Peace' attitude!

There are too many shots of the one figure - an overall perspective can be done in 3 shots - ¾ left, ¾ right and rear. Lyles covered very adequately in 2 shots - Miraldi needed up to 5 shots in some cases! Some photos are even close to being duplicated. There were also too many detailed shots illustrating minor points or points done before. There were also too many individual photos of standard insignia. Insignia comprise part of the uniform but I felt there are already enough publications dealing with them and the photos should be focussed more towards uniforms and equipment. Miraldi has also included many period pictures, some of which are very good but a lot comprise 'buddy' photos and contain very little information or show content which has been previously illustrated.

Unlike Lyles, who largely used pristine items, Miraldi has included some 'salty' items which does not detract from the overall effect. However, I would have preferred that if he was going to take close-ups of uniform labels that he use mint examples as the faded condition of some of the tags render them close to illegible. Additionally, his examination of the different camouflage employed would have been more credible if he had used mint items for every pattern. I remain unconvinced of his argument of a 'Transitional' versus 'Brown Dominant' ERDL pattern on the basis that the 'Brown Dominant' sample he illustrates looks merely like a faded 'Transitional' pattern. At this point Miraldi also states that ALICE gear and 'RDF' pattern camouflage were not used in Vietnam but he is only right to the extent in that they were not used in the period covered by his book. Some photos of operations 'Eagle Claw' and 'Frequent Wind' (the evacuations of Phnom Penh and Saigon respectively) quite clearly show a few US Marines wearing 'RDF' pattern helmet covers, uniforms and sporting ALICE pouches.

The footnoting leaves something to be desired. In some cases the footnotes do not correspond to the correct chapters. In several instances the attributed author's name is spelt wrongly ('Lyels' rather than 'Lyles') and to top it all off in one instance there is a remark, from the publisher to the author, asking for a missing footnote!

Some positive points must be noted however. I liked the period photos illustrating some uniform points. There were some truly interesting items - the mesh 'Delta' boot (illustrated but not explained) and an intriguing ERDL ammunition vest. Unlike previous authors Miraldi also attempts to distinguish Vietnam-era from post-war items.

In conclusion, I would have to say I was disappointed with this book, especially after paying a premium price. It is definitely not a monument to the high standards I know both Schiffer Publishing and the author are capable of. Too much of the material has been duplicated in previous (and cheaper) texts and there is very little new information for the experienced Vietnam collector - I for one did not learn anything new. The author writes that he will be working on further books on the subject and I hope that his future efforts will not be padded out with superfluous material - and employ a proof reader! This book is suited more to those who are starting out in the Vietnam uniform collecting field and I would recommend that the experienced Vietnam collector has a thorough look through the book before committing to buying one.

As a collector, one of the most useful books I have found in identifying historical information from everything from badges to berrets. It is written in such a way that can easily be understood by all ages. The pictures and illustrations are a great addition to this great work.

Mr. Miraldi's work is an important one as it ties in two other monumental works on this subject (Shelby Stanton's and Kevin Lyles) and makes a complete reference out of all three! To own just one of the other books is not enough, yet it is saying a lot for Mr. Miraldi's work that you can start off by just owning his and that will help you through the majority of your questions on the topic.

My suggestion is to try to own ALL three works, but if you must start somewhere, then Mr. Miraldi's book is a good place to start!

Why do I suggest his book over a more technical and textbook-like work such as Stanton? Stanton is an excellent source and a must-have book, but Mr. Miraldi's book takes it one step further and shows you how everything is worn and ties together! The reader is not just shown a pristine example of an item, but is shown an item being used as it would have been used in a particular time frame of the war. This is a better approach for the novice--it is more "user friendly".

Overall this is a well done book and I look forward to the new book on advisors that he has put out!

An insight into a complicated man's mind. This book is for historians who are trying to put together their own pictures of John Paul Jones. Most people would find this book dull and for them I would recommend one of the many books written about the founder of the American Navy.

Ranger and Slack's book has a lot of interesting material, but most people will be put off by the writing. It is written by academics for academics and is not as readable as, say, Kolata's Flu. The articles are not concerned with what causes epidemics or how they are treated.The reactions of people to really scary diseases is the theme. Whether they are ancient Athenians reacting to plague or us modern folks learning about AIDS, people seem to react to epidemics in the same ways: they try to find human scapegoats to blame for the outbreak and those who can try to leave the area where the disease has broken out. The novelty and physical loathsomeness of the disease also have a lot to do with what people do. Some of these articles are more readable than others; the best are on Hawaiian depopulation, epidemics in the Dark Ages, and the Athenian plague. Probably a book only for specialists or very serious nonspecialists.

For an individual who was as interesting as John Paul Jones, this book does the person an injustice. The vast majority of the book contains copies of letters sent and received by JPJ with little or no analysis or summary comment added by the author. By far its the most boring book on an 18th century patriot that I've ever read. Its actually more a book on the topic of ship building in early New England times and less on the individual and his military accomplishments. I'm sure the time spent for the necessary research to garner the materials is laudable, but I purchased the book to understand the man and his character in confronting the enemy at home and abroad. Although the book is relatively inexpensive, there are numerous books on others such as Daniel Morgan, etc which are worth reading more than once. Sorry if this review offends anyone.