Go Down Together by Jeff Guinn

I read a lot of nonfiction as well as fiction and have just finished Go Down Together by Jeff Guinn. It's the true story of Bonnie and Clyde and is just riveting. You won't want to put it down, it's that good! If you're traveling, especially out to Texas and the southwestern states, this is also available on CD Book, and would be great to listen to on a roadtrip!

It has been 75 years since Bonnie and Clyde died in a hail of bullets, but their legend has endured. For those that only known Bonnie and Clyde from the 1967 Warren Beatty movie, they could not have been more different. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow grew up in the slums of West Dallas, Texas during the devastation of the Depression and Dust Bowl. Bonnie was petite, kind and pretty, wanted to be a poet, and longed for excitement in her life. She wrote a poem about their inevitable end called “The End of the Road”, a line of which is the title of the book. Clyde started his life of crime by stealing chickens, and, through his brother Buck’s influence, graduated to cars and then banks. After a brutal and abusive stint at the Eastham Prison Farm, Clyde, who had a ferocious temper, was driven by getting revenge on the criminal system. Bonnie and Clyde met at a party in 1930, and the attraction between them was instant. Together they, with an assortment of other criminals that drifted in and out of the gang, robbed small businesses and banks from 1932-34. Clyde was the muscle and brains of the gang; but he was far from ruthless. If they had to take a hostage, they would inevitably be left off down the road or in the next town, and often given money to get a ride home. Which is not to say that they did not kill, they did if they had to. But mostly they were seen as Depression era Robin Hoods, stealing from the corrupt and greedy banks. The public and press mostly idolized them because of their romantic and rebellious image. Clyde was an inept robber, hitting small banks and getting only small takes. It wasn’t until the murder of a cop (caused by another Barrow gang member due to a misunderstanding), that the public and press turned against them. From that time, their lives on the road were harried and uncomfortable, and they often had to resort to sleeping in their car. After an embarrassing Eastham Farm prison breakout by the Barrow gang in January 1934, Frank Hammer was hired by the Texas Department of Corrections to bring Bonnie and Clyde in, or take them down. Through careful observation and research over several months, he was able to discern a pattern to their movements, and, using an informant, set up the ambush that brought the pair to their grisly end; death by a barrage of firepower. Guinn is an excellent storyteller, and keeps the pace taut throughout. This well researched book by Guinn uses unpublished materials from the Parker and Barrow families. It is is an engrossing read for both true crime fans and the general reader.