{"title":"Richard F Selcer","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"written-in-blood-book-richard-f-selcer-9781574413236","title":"Written in Blood","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn 2010 \u003ci\u003eWritten in Blood: The History of Fort Worth's Fallen Lawmen, Volume 1\u003c\/i\u003e, told the stories of thirteen Fort Worth law officers who died in the line of duty between 1861 and 1909. Now Richard F. Selcer and Kevin S. Foster are back with Volume 2 covering another baker's dozen line-of-duty deaths that occurred between 1910 and 1928. The stories are grouped into two sections: \"When Blood Ran in the Streets, 1910-1919\" and \"Life Was Cheap, 1920-1928.\" Not counting the two officers who died of natural causes (meningitis and drowning), these are more tales of murder, mayhem, and dirty work from all branches of local law enforcement: police, sheriff's deputies, constables, and special officers, just like in Volume 1.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis era was, if anything, bloodier than the preceding era of the first volume. Fort Worth experienced a race riot, two lynchings, and martial law imposed by the U.S. Army while Camp Bowie was operating. Bushwhacking (such as happened to Peter Howard in 1915) and assassinations (such as happened to Jeff Couch in 1920) replaced blood feuds and old-fashioned shootouts as leading causes of death among lawmen. Violence was not confined to the streets either; a Police Commissioner was gunned down in his city hall office in 1917. Even the new category of \"vehicular homicide\" claimed a lawman's life.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelcer and Foster also relate the story of their murderers and of the times. Every chapter follows the arrest and trial of the perp(s) and their ultimate fate. How some of the accused were treated by the justice system and how they ended up will surprise you. Woven throughout is the story of law enforcement and the criminal justice system in the early 20th century, including the move from horseback to motorized transportation; how the FWPD wrestled with the city's growing ethnic communities; bonding procedures back when policemen issued \"bonds,\" not tickets; and the insidious influence of the KKK in local law enforcement. Forensics science changed how crimes were solved, even \u003ci\u003eif\u003c\/i\u003e they were solved. Throughout it all, the man wearing the badge was always the front line of civilization. He laid his life on the line every time he stepped out onto the street. As a result some men bought life insurance (something else new); some men did not marry.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThere are no saints here. These thirteen officers were all flesh-and-blood men. And their killers were not all mustache-twirling villains. Juries sometimes had trouble making the distinction, too. \u003ci\u003eWritten in Blood Volume 2\u003c\/i\u003e continues the story begun in the first volume, but it also stands alone as a fascinating slice of Fort Worth history and an examination of law enforcement in the old days.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50425870909713,"sku":"CIN1574413236G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1574413236.jpg?v=1763472755"},{"product_id":"written-in-blood-book-richard-f-selcer-9781574412963","title":"Written in Blood","description":"“Another line of duty death” is a chilling headline that serves as an obituary for too many “first responders.” In 2002 Fort Worth joined the ranks of other communities across the nation in building a memorial to its fallen heroes, an elaborate, million-dollar Police and Firefighters Memorial, dedicated in 2009, that recognized fifty-eight policemen going back to the city’s beginnings. Written in Blood is a more inclusive version of that idea because it covers more than just members of the Police Department; it is about the men from all branches of local law enforcement who died defending law and order in the early years: policemen, sheriffs, constables, “special officers,” and even a police commissioner. All were larger-than-life characters who took an oath to “preserve and protect” and therefore deserve to be remembered. Richard F. Selcer and Kevin S. Foster tell the stories of thirteen of those early lawmen, starting with Tarrant County Sheriff John B. York in 1861 and going through Fort Worth Police Officer William “Ad” Campbell in 1909. York died in a street fight; Campbell was shot-gunned in the back while walking his beat in Hell’s Half-Acre. This is also the story of law enforcement in the days when an assortment of policemen and marshals, sheriffs and deputies, and special officers and constables held the line and sometimes crossed over it. Co-authors Selcer and Foster bring academic credentials and “street cred” to the story, explaining how policemen got (and kept) their jobs, what “special officers” were, and the working relationship between the city marshal’s boys and the sheriff’s boys. The book is also a primer on court proceedings in the old days as it follows accused cop killers through the justice system. In some instances, the court cases were as fantastic as the crime itself. Each victim’s and perpetrator’s story is fleshed out with the details of his life, ultimate fate, and in some cases his descendants. Written in Blood is not a paean to these thirteen men. They were not saints; they were real flesh-and-blood men: violent, sometimes racist, often carrying a chip on their shoulder. Most of them would not meet the strict professional standards required of officers today. None of the thirteen has ever had their full story told before now. They were men on the front lines of law enforcement at a time when the job did not come with health insurance or a retirement package. Selcer and Foster show the real men behind the badges, warts and all, leaving it to the reader to judge each officer’s place in history. “This interesting and well researched book investigates an intriguing and overlooked phase of early Fort Worth history, the deaths of lawmen such as the police, marshals, and sheriffs. Each has a story to tell, and the authors have told it well. The book reads almost like a novel. Written in Blood will be of significant interest especially to the law enforcement community and no doubt to others who just appreciate Fort Worth history.”–J’Nell Pate, author of Livestock Legacy: The Fort Worth Stockyards, 1887-1987. “Written in Blood is quite detailed in its account of the histories and personal lives of the law officers involved and the persons accused of gunning them down, as well as the ensuing trials. Any reader interested in this subject would savor this wealth of detail.”–Robert K. DeArment, author of Bat Masterson and Alias Frank Canton.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50425874645265,"sku":"CIN1574412965VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50766631698705,"sku":"GOR014063059","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51332488823057,"sku":"CIN1574412965G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1574412965.jpg?v=1763484621"},{"product_id":"fort-worth-book-richard-f-selcer-9780876111970","title":"Fort Worth","description":"Fort Worth has been called \"\"the City Where the West Begins,\"\" \"\"Cowtown,\"\" and the silent partner in the Dallas\/Fort Worth Metroplex. None of these descriptions quite tells the story of this city and its people. Since its founding in the mid-nineteenth century as a military outpost, Fort Worth has gone through many phases - cattle, oil, aviation, and tourist. The little village on the Trinity has grown up to become a global city that is a melting pot of economic forces and diverse cultures. At its most basic, Fort Worth's history is the story of leadership, of how men and women of vision built a flourishing community at a river crossing on the north Texas plains. Through troubled times - the 1850s, the Civil War, the 1930s, the 1970s - the leadership kept its eye on the future. The city pulled itself through the down times - and put itself on the map - by visionary projects like the railroad, the Spring Palace, the Stockyards, Camp Bowie, the Bomber Plant, and Sundance Square. This book helps to put a modern face on Fort Worth, move it out of the shadow of Dallas, and place it firmly in the twenty-first century. The book is illustrated with many historic photographs, including: a pair of Wichita Indians; Main Street in old Fort Worth; the current Tarrant County Courthouse, under construction in 1895; Fort Worth Medical College, opening in 1893 as just the third medical school in Texas; Fort Worth's Meacham Field in its early years (ca. 1926) and Meacham field in 1937; the Boeing B-29 and the Convair B-36 side by side at Carswell Air Force Base; Pig Stand drive-ins; the Fort Worth Cats and their opponents, the Memphis Chicks; the Light Crust Doughboys Western swing band in the 1940s; Six Flags over Texas; the \"\"Bombardier 500\"\" race; William B. McDonald, successful African American businessman and political leader; the Woman's Wednesday Club in its weekly luncheon meeting at the Metropolitan Hotel, 1918; the flood of 1949; Sundance Square, looking west across Main Street in the 1980s; and African American drover Chester Stidham with the \"\"Fort Worth Herd\"\" of longhorns. Also enlivening the text are various sidebars giving detailed information about \"\"Fort Worth's Most Historic Cemeteries,\"\" \"\"Courthouse Square,\"\" \"\"The Cultural District,\"\" \"\"Sundance Square,\"\" and \"\"The Historic North Side.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50467572252945,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50467574972689,"sku":"CIN0876111975G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0876111975.jpg?v=1750884226"},{"product_id":"lee-vs-pickett-book-richard-f-selcer-9781577470304","title":"Lee Vs. 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The wealth of illustrations by artist Deran Wright are an integral part of the book. Wright carefully researched the people and events for each full-color painting, reaching out to descendants for photos and researching what long-ago machinery and locations looked like. The result is the story of Fort Worth told equally in words and pictures.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51387015528721,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51387016642833,"sku":"NIN9780875658391","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0875658393.jpg?v=1763473156"},{"product_id":"history-of-fort-worth-in-black-white-book-richard-f-selcer-9781574416169","title":"A History of Fort Worth in Black \u0026 White","description":"This volume fills a long-empty niche on the Fort Worth bookshelf: a scholarly history of the city's black community that starts at the beginning with Ripley Arnold and the early settlers, and comes down to today with the current battles over education, housing, and representation in city affairs.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51606092874001,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51606093857041,"sku":"CIN1574416162A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53026863743249,"sku":"CIN1574416162G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1574416162.jpg?v=1763484293"},{"product_id":"fort-worth-characters-2-volume-10-book-richard-f-selcer-9781574419689","title":"Fort Worth Characters 2 Volume 10","description":"Fort Worth Characters 2 is a sequel to Fort Worth Characters (UNT Press, 2009) by Richard F. Selcer, the preeminent historian of Fort Worth. This book continues the theme of human-interest stories of twenty-five more characters pulled from Fort Worth history. Some, like Frank James, were already famous when they came to Fort Worth. Others, like “Stutterin’ Sam” Dowell, were “discovered” here before going on to fame and fortune on the national stage.  How about a character who might have been the inspiration for detective Nancy Drew? Or a female reporter who was the first American to score an interview with the president of Mexico? How about a husband-wife pair who might have been the first African American “power couple”? Or an abortion doctor convicted at trial in Fort Worth in 1913? 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