A vivid history of America's biggest, baddest prison system and how it came to lead the nation's punitive revolution In the prison business, all roads lead to Texas. The most locked-down state in the nation has led the way in criminal justice severity, from assembly-line executions to isolation supermaxes, from prison privatization to sentencing juveniles as adults. Texas Tough, a sweeping history of American imprisonment from the days of slavery to the present, shows how a plantation-based penal system once dismissed as barbaric became the national template. Drawing on convict accounts, official records, and interviews with prisoners, guards, and lawmakers, historian Robert Perkinson reveals the Southern roots of our present-day prison colossus. While conventional histories emphasize the North's rehabilitative approach, he shows how the retributive and profit-driven regime of the South ultimately triumphed. Most provocatively, he argues that just as convict leasing and segregation emerged in response to Reconstruction, so today's mass incarceration, with its vast racial disparities, must be seen as a backlash against civil rights. Illuminating for the first time the origins of America's prison juggernaut, Texas Tough points toward a more just and humane future.

A dangerous complication in an heiress' life places her under the protection of a former flame, who hides his identity as a Tyler son while asking for his brothers' help in uncovering a conspiracy that threatens their ranch.

A collection of Courtney's columns from the Texas Monthly, curing the curious, exorcizing bedevilment, and orienting the disoriented, advising "on such things as: Is it wrong to wear your football team's jersey to church? When out at a dancehall, do you need to stick with the one that brung ya? Is it real Tex-Mex if it's served with a side of black beans? Can one have too many Texas-themed tattoos?"--Amazon.com.

The bestselling author of How Children Succeed returns with a devastatingly powerful, mind-changing inquiry into higher education in the U.S.

A cowboy through and through, ranch owner Mallory Kirk knows what it means to put in a full day's work. But does his new cowgirl? He has his doubts that Morie Brannt will be able to pull her own weight, even if the petite young woman does seem to have a lot of spirit. As they spar over events at the ranch and a past that threatens their hopes for the future, sparks begin to fly, and Mallory can't help but notice Morie in a new light. But is this tough Wyoming man ready to love?

He's the kind of cowboy even big-city women dream about… The only reason artsy Abby Carmichael is way out in Royal, Texas, is to shoot a documentary film. But to get it right, she needs a cowboy. And fifth-generation Texas Cattleman’s Club member Carter Crane is it. His slow drawl, blue eyes and swagger say he’s the real deal…and their sparks ignite like wildfire. But when her work reveals big-money secrets that could bring down Royal, Abby must choose between the film that could make her career or riding into the sunset with Carter… Mills & Boon Desire — Luxury, scandal, desire — welcome to the lives of the elite.

"Big, bold, and sexy, Texas True is Janet Dailey at her best!" --Kat Martin He's the one who got away. The cowboy who claimed her heart before taking off on a tour of duty, planning never to return. But Beau Tyler is back, and Natalie Haskell feels defenseless against the powerful pull of the brawny soldier. Especially when she finds herself suddenly widowed and needing the shelter of his strong arms. She's the hometown sweetheart. The girl Beau left behind but never forgot, despite his battle-scarred soul. Now Natalie is the real reason he's staying on at the ranch, despite rumors that he was somehow involved in her late husband's death. Because something in Beau has stirred to life again--something he believed his painful past had destroyed. And not even wild horses can keep him from the woman he still loves ....