Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers is a 2020 nonfiction book by Doug J. Swanson. It describes the history of the Texas Rangers. Reception Reviews of the books were mixed, with journalists and Texas historians unable to find consensus on the book's merits. Author and political historian, Douglas Brinkley, in a New York Times book review called the book "revisionist" as it shows incidents of violence not previously covered in histories of the Texas Rangers. Brinkley wrote that the author "portrays the 19th-century Rangers as a paramilitary squad, proudly waving the banner of white supremacy." Swanson claimed that he did not set out to challenge the previous historiography of the Texas Rangers but that this became apparent to him as he did more research. Of the impressions he took away from his research, Swanson said that the positive image of the Texas Rangers "has been crafted and many times is a fraud". Cult of Glory well was reviewed favorably in the Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express News, Dallas Morning News, Texas Monthly, the New York Times, and others. Texas Ranger scholars and historians, however, disagreed with the reviews of journalists. Texas historian and professor, Richard McCaslin, opined in The Journal of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, that "readers seeking an objective, well researched, or even reasonably accurate history of the Rangers will not find it here. In response to author Swanson's claims about the crafting of the positive Ranger image, McCaslin wrote "In fact, it is this work at falls within the category of modern mythmaking, as the author abandons objectivity and presents carefully selected episodes in Texas history, many of which do not directly involve the Rangers, to present a poorly researched and inaccurate condemnation." Ranger scholar and author, Darren L. Ivey described the book as "an example of advocacy journalism rather than historical analysis," taking issue with Swanson's research and source selection in the Wild West History Association Journal. "Swanson's book selectively disregards works that would have added crucial context and perspective," writes Ivey. Contents The book is a 480 page chronological illustrated history of the Texas Rangers, examining each of the epochs of the force, 1821 to the modern Texas Rangers. Swanson's thesis is that the Texas Rangers "were the violent instruments of repression" of a white ruling class who preyed on Texans of color throughout their history. Aftermath Joe