Frederick S. Calhoun became the first official historian for the U.S. Marshal Service in the early eighties. He attended the University of Chicago where he received his PH.D.. in American History and has previously published Power and Principle: Armed Intervention in Wilsonian Foreign Policy (1986). His purpose in writing this book was the simplest reason possible, it had not been done yet. Up until 1989 when Frederick Calhoun published The Lawmen there was no book containing a comprehensive history of the U.S. Marshal service. Now his book is acknowledged by the Marshal Service as the book to read when considering their history it is even listed in the history section of the U.S. Marshal homepage on the Internet.

The book is separated into three sections, Constitution and Courts, 1789-1861, Federal Constitutionalism, 1861-1900, and Constitutional Challenges and Changes, 1894-1983, respectively. An epilogue is included which covers the years from 1983 to 1989. Calhoun wrote the book after much research including the National Archives, the Library of Congress, numerous Universities

The book is organized in chronological order beginning with The Battle of Monmouth June 28, 1778 and The Judiciary act of 1789, which was the start of the U.S. Marshal Service, then concluding with what it takes to be a U.S. Marshal today. In between every chapter is organized in the same manner, they show the development of the Marshal Service and include stories of the times. There is too much information included to even attempt to summarize what is contained in this books pages. The stories are not included only to add color but to give the reader a better understanding of how the Marshal Service was developing politically as well as within society. Every chapter is constructed this way, and the only portion of the book which deters from this form is the epilogue. The epilogue gives a more personal feeling like you are one of the Marshals present during the events Calhoun writes about.

This book does an excellent job in informing the reader about the history of the U.S. Marshal Service. Frederick Calhoun does a great job in covering what everyone knows is a dry subject, history, specific history. I believe that he has included the appropriate amount of information in the book. He could have left out some things, but understanding would have been los

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