William W. Rogers and James M. Denham present for the first time a documented and comprehensive account of Florida's sheriffs from 1821 to 1945. Based on secondary works but mainly on published and unpublished primary sources, the book gives insight and depth to this important part of the state's history. Facing antebellum Florida's problems of communication and transportation, the sheriffs attempted to bring justice, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, to a frontier region. While the pay was often uncertain, personal danger never was. Often the most powerful individual in a county, the sheriff had the opportunity to uphold or to abuse the law. Some, a minority, did not measure up, but most of them did, and rendered a service to the state.

Except for the Reconstruction period when they were appointed, sheriffs were popularly elected. They had to be politicians as well as enforcers of the law. Further, they were administrators involved with serving writs and warrants, collecting fees, being court officers, and conducting public auctions. Sometimes, sheriffs had the additional responsibility of serving as county treasurers and tax collectors. During the Civil War sheriffs were both military men and protectors of the home front. Their jobs were no less compelling during the Reconstruction period that followed.

The sheriff played an important role in the transitional period when Florida moved toward modern statehood. In 1893 the lawmen formed the Florida Sheriffs Association, an organization that has served as their spokesman and given continuity to their profession. The twentieth century brought with it amazing technological advancements that compounded the difficulties of law enforcement - automobiles, airplanes, and instant communication. The sheriffs had to cope with prohibition, wars, improved weapons, racial turmoil, lynchings, and hints of the coming drug war after 1945. All of this is dealt with extensively, and numerous illustrations and pictures, many of them never published before, give an immediacy to this pioneering work. The well-written and carefully researched narrative is marked by its objectivity, and is an important addition to understanding the individuals, now both men and women, who carry out the laws of Florida.