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Doug J. Swanson

Biography

Doug J. Swanson

Doug J. Swanson is the author most recently of CULT OF GLORY: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers. He was for many years an investigative reporter and editor at The Dallas Morning News, and is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing, and spent a year as a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. Swanson currently teaches writing at the University of Pittsburgh.

Doug J. Swanson

Books by Doug J. Swanson

Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers
by Doug J. Swanson - History, Nonfiction

The Texas Rangers came to life in 1823, when Texas was still part of Mexico. Nearly 200 years later, the Rangers are still going --- one of the most famous of all law enforcement agencies. In CULT OF GLORY, Doug J. Swanson has written a sweeping account of the Rangers that chronicles their epic, daring escapades while showing how the white and propertied power structures of Texas used them as enforcers, protectors and officially sanctioned killers.

Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker
by Doug J. Swanson - Nonfiction, True Crime

Benny Binion was an American cowboy, a casino owner, a gangster, a killer, and founder of the World Series of Poker. He had a crucial role in shaping modern Las Vegas as we now know it. He ran a good business, killed his enemies and owned the cops. Through the use of once-secret government documents, Doug J. Swanson shows how Binion destroyed his rivals and outsmarted his adversaries, even J. Edgar Hoover.