Customer Reviews:
My Life With Bonnie and Clyde.......2007-08-21
For anyone looking for new surprises and a new angle on the story of Bonnie and Clyde, this book is a must. Blanche Barrow bears the facts of her life with the Barrow Gang right down to the bone. You can almost smell, see and hear this story as it plays out before your eyes.
It was also great to see what happened to those who survived past 1934, following Blanche through her prison sentence and into her later years, with Billie Moon (Bonnie Parker's sister)beside her. A must for all Bonnie and Clyde researchers.
History Crime Buff.......2007-06-29
Blanche Barrow gives a first hand account of life on the run. As she says it was pure hell which ended with the death of her huband; prison for her and a loss of an eye. It was very intresting.
A Good Book.......2007-05-03
This is an interesting book for anyone who wants to learn about Bonnie and Clyde. It is written by someone who was there and witnessed the inside of the gang. The reader should be warned that Blanche Barrow wrote this in prison so some things in the book do not agree with proven facts. All in all, a good read and as close to the truth as we may ever know.
A dramatic and very insightful look into another era........2006-09-29
Incredible book! Great fun to read. I enjoyed the historical facts. Such as constant references to the time period. A vivid insight into the early days. The characters were real. If you enjoy anylizing a good read this is for you. This book really gave me a sense of the times. These people will illicit a range of emotions from pity, loathing, revulsion, sadness, grief. I strongly recommend. Especially if you have an interest in history with a personal touch.
Like being there with the Barrow Gang!.......2006-06-26
This book was GREAT! I am a huge Bonnie and Clyde fan (and an historian) and this is the best thing I've read on them in years. Blanche's memoirs are easy to read and very descriptive. The endnotes fill in details and what Blanche didn't quite remember (which is very little considering her circumstances). Highly recommended reading for the die-hard Bonnie and Clyde fan, or if you are just interested in the 1930's or the Great Depression.
Customer Reviews:
"This is a Stick Up!".......2007-08-14
"Here they come down that dusty road, and muddy bend; Man and woman welded in crime, together they lived and together...they died. Who else could it be?; But good ol' Bonnie and Clyde!"
The book entitled, "Bonnie and Clyde A Twenty-First-Century Update" by James R.Knight (with Jonahtan Davis )is... "A killer of a book!"
This is a superbly written and researched book. James R. Knight is too young to have ridden along with them, at least in this life. However, his knowledge and interest in this gun toting couple makes me wonder, where he may have been in his last life time?
His writing is informative, easy to read and follow, and...extremely descriptive. In addition, the book is a photographic library in itself!
Sometimes, I could almost hear the heavy "barking" of Clyde's "BAR" and watch the black exhaust clouds rise from the tail pipe of his get-away, 1934 Ford sedan.
Frank Hamer does not appear to be as powerful a figure as he was portrayed in the 1967 movie with Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. Although, a central figure in orchestrating the couple's final demise, the initial credit seems to flow toward a little known figure of the ambush group listed as, Officer Prentis Oakley.
Author, James Knight also gives the reader what Paul Harvey used to say on his radio program: "and now you know ... the rest of the story."
Knight follows through with information on the fate of each actor who ever played any part on the stage of "Bonnie and Clyde."
A great job Mr. Knight(and Mr. Davis)! When can we expect another publication???
A Superb Read.......2007-06-08
Other than the books written by John Neal Phillips, this is the best of the Bonnie and Clyde books. Well researched, balanced viewpoint, great photos. A superb read.
A must read if you're interested at all in Bonnie & Clyde........2006-11-10
I've read many good books on the subject of Bonnie & Clyde, and even though the 1967 movie was far from accurate historically, it is one of my all time favorite movies. This book does the best job I've found of setting some of the inaccurate facts straight. I live less than 30 miles from Dexter Park, where the gang was ambushed, and I find it fascinating to finally read so many details of what transpired during those events. If this subject interests you at all, then this book is an absolute must read.
Exhaustive research on Bonnie & Clyde.......2005-07-26
This new book on Bonnie & Clyde does greatly to enhance the lives and times of the Barrow gang from start to finish. It is laden with new photo's and research and the authors obviously spent a lot of time and money to travel to the various sites mention in the book. I would rate this as one of the best, if not the best book on the lives and crimes of the Barrow gang. Knight and Davis are great researchers and have done an outstanding job with bringing to life the deeds and misdeeds of Bonnie and Clyde and their partners in crime. I would greatly recommend it to anyone interested in this genre.
Mike Koch, author of The Kimes Gang
The whole nine yards.......2005-04-03
Best book written on Bonnie and Clyde in regards to telling their entire story from A to Z. If you only read one book on this desperate duo this is the one.
Book Description
Few films in the history of American cinema caused more intense critical discussion and greater emotional debate than Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde. This volume includes freshly-commissioned essays by leading scholars of Arthur Penn's work, as well as contributions from Penn himself and scriptwriter David Newman. They analyze the cultural history, technical brilliance, visual strategies, and violent imagery that marked Bonnie and Clyde as a significant turning point in American film.
Customer Reviews:
"Bonnie and Clyde" Now and Then.......2000-03-29
This book is a very good collection of essays that review and analyze Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" in the context of the 60's and our own time. Discussions around the movie that have taken place at the time of its release and today have altered significantly. And that is what the book reflects on. Arthur Penn's essay in the collection gives an enlightening impression on the making of "Bonnie and Clyde" and describes the difficulties connected with the production of the film. His and David Newman's (who is analyzing the on going discussion of what "Bonnie and Clyde" is really about)pieces stand in refreshing contrast to the "academic" interpretations of the movie, because they reveal more than a view from outside that only sees the movie and succeed in giving a feeling for the artistic process instead of just analysing the final result. Steven Alan Carr's and Stephen Prince's essays offer wonderful contextualizations by looking at "Bonnie and Clyde" in the context of the film's influence on and from society and the film's influence on violence in American film history. This is for sure one of the books one should read in an attempt to understand "Bonnie and Clyde" in its historical context and its significance for American film history. And it is not only a source of knowledge and thought it's definitely also a lot of fun.
Book Description
Relying on primary sources—oral history interviews, personal memoirs, newspaper articles, official records, diaries, and letters—E. R. Milner cuts through myth and legend to create this startling portrait of the real Bonnie and Clyde.
In his prologue, Milner introduces Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, showing them as they drive along a rural Louisiana lane toward the ambush that would put a dramatic end to their turbulent lives of crime. Milner then traces their backgrounds, noting the events that bring the two outlaws together. The ensuing adventures of Bonnie and Clyde featured gun battles, narrow escapes and captures, frequent moves, and, of necessity, several shifts in personnel over a short period of time. It was a life of wild action, betrayal, and sometimes even gallantry. In the abstract, an aura of romance surrounded this violent pair.
Although the mythology surrounding Bonnie and Clyde is charged with drama and fascination, Milner reveals the truth behind the bloody legend, carefully gleaning materials from obscure locally published accounts, previously untapped court records, and archived but unpublished oral history accounts from some sixty victims, neighbors, relatives, and police who were involved in the exploits of the infamous duo. And the truth proves to be sufficiently exciting. Romance aside, the Barrow gang carved a grisly swath through Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. The string of deaths was long—and real: Akota, Oklahoma, sheriff severely wounded, deputy killed; Sherman, Texas, grocery clerk killed; Temple, Texas, man killed as gang attempts to steal his car; Joplin, Missouri, two officers killed; Alma, Arkansas, police officer killed; Crockette, Texas, prison guard killed; Miami, Oklahoma, police officer killed.
Milner traces this violent path until 23 May 1934, when Bonnie and Clyde die in an ambush. Even dead, they draw crowds and are buried in a circus-like atmosphere. In death they continue to intrigue us in ways few criminals had before or have since.
Customer Reviews:
Craig Wells Amarillo Texas.......2006-05-12
Although this book is well written and highly informative,some facts are incorrect.The author states that the gang was driving east on Texas Highway 203 between Quail and Wellington.The truth is,they were driving north on highway 83,8 miles north of Wellington,between Wellington and Shamrock,when their car crashed into the Red River.Also Mrs.Pritchard is Mr.Pritchard`s daughter not wife.She is married to John Cartwright.When Mrs.Cartwright was shot in the hand by W.D.Jones,he fails to mention that she was holding her three month old son in her arms.The baby was not injured,altough window screen from the shotgun blast fired through the window hit the baby in the head.Mrs.Cartwright who is in her ninties is still living in Wellington Texas.When the gang fled they headed north towards Shamrock not east toward Wellington.
Bonnie & Clyde researcher & writer.......2005-09-02
One thing for sure about this book by E. R. Milner is that he apparently did not visit the actual sites of many B & C gang's activities. He has names of towns, first and surnames of people, misspelled. He continued to use old material that has been done before and is incorrect in family history. However, Milner did publish the first death photo of Bonnie Parker. I believe that the "Lives and Times of Bonnie and Clyde" will be of interest to most people as their appeal continues to grow and millions still love to read more about their lives and crimes. I was fortunate to meet the author in 1999 in Miami, Oklahoma. He was a very gracious man and a good speaker. For all it's flaws, I would still recommend this book for your crime library.
Mike Koch, author of "The Kimes Gang."
Average Book & Facts.......2004-11-13
I was disappointed with this book. The events described are an almost an hour by hour passage of time, during the short lives of these two antagonists. We really don't care what Clyde did at 2am on the morning of the 15th of the month if it really has nothing to do with the outcome of the event! It seems as if this author wrote these pages directly from a courtroom transcript or a witness' testimony. Furthermore, there are entirely too few pictures (we want to see more of Bonnie & Clyde - duh!!). Pass on this book and buy one of the others out there.
Flawed Masterpiece.......2001-07-12
E.R. Milner has constructed a pretty fair history of the Barrow gang in The Lives and Times of Bonnie & Clyde. Using contemporary newspaper accounts and police records, he provides detailed accounts of even many of the gang's minor crimes, such as early gas station holdups, and we B&C buffs naturally want all the details we can get. There are some previously unpublished photos, which is a must. There is also too much dialogue for historical purposes, much of it taken, unfortunately, from Jan Fortune's error-strewn Fugitives, the ghosted 1934 memoirs of Emma Parker and Nell Barrow Cowan which in turn derived as much from Ed Portley's 1934 True Detective articles as it did from Bonnie's mother and Clyde's sister. There are quite a number of typos, mostly wrong first names and misspellings of surnames and it is equally unfortunate that Milner failed to visit many of the locations prominent in the Bonnie and Clyde story, where key participants in the events still live, such as Dexter, Iowa. Milner told me once he regretted not having gone to Iowa inasmuch as Dexter was the turning point in the gang's history just as surely as Northfield, Minnesota was the Waterloo of the James gang. Having recently reread this book, I also regret he didn't come to Iowa. The three gas stations the gang hit before going to the Platte City, MO motel were in Fort Dodge, Iowa, not Kansas. Speaking of Minnesota, a visit to Okabena would have raised considerable doubts in the author's mind as to the Barrows' guilt in the bank robbery there. No eyewitnesses ever identified the Barrows there but two men and a woman were later convicted of the Okabena bank job. Milner's epilogue leaves much to be desired. Clyde's mother was shot in 1938, as Milner reports, but not by "an unknown attacker." The would-be assassin was a former minor gang member ostracized by the Barrow family as a "rat" and the shooting resulted from a feud with them which also involved a number of bombings. Cumie was also more than "slightly wounded"--like Blanche she lost the sight of one eye. Little or nothing is recorded of the deaths of Bonnie's mother or other principal participants such as B&C ambushers Henderson Jordan, Prentiss Oakley and Manny Gault. Kidnap victim Thomas (wrongly named as Jimmy!) Persell is only recorded as having retired from the Springfield, MO P.D. And the sideshow "career" of the death car should have been traced down to its present whereabouts in a Nevada casino. In view of the errors and omissions, I feel I must drop a star from my previous rating of this work. Still, Milner did Bonnie and Clyde better than many before him and both his book and the recent Running With Bonnie and Clyde by John Neal Phillips deserve a respectable slot in any crime library.
Falls short.......2000-11-10
I never tire of reading about Bonnie and Clyde and I enjoyed this book. It was very well researched. All quotes and sources are well documented. It was disappointingly short especially since the auther had so much great research to draw from. In a true crime book I also like lots of photographs. It gives me a feel for the period. The photo's in this book are few and of poor quality. This book is good and I recommend it. I can't help but think it could have been great, but falls short.
Book Description
Here is the true story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow--a young sociopathic Southern couple gunned down by authorities after a two-year crime spree that left twelve people dead.
Customer Reviews:
Bonnie and Clyde.......2007-05-28
Not as great as I was hoping it would be. Have read better written books on the couple and I have read most of them available.
Good introduction to Bonnie and Clyde.......2007-05-16
This is my first book on these two and it will not be my last. There is a good bibliography provided to follow up sources of information and other books. As well as being a history book the author delves frequently into his reflections about what made Bonnie and Clyde tick. The author seems determine to provide psychological profiles at regular intervals throughout the book to explain Bonnie and Clyde's actions and decisions and almost tries to get inside their minds. At times l thought why does he bother at others l thought he made some interesting comments. Mr Treherne does a good job of explaining how the folklore of these two developed over the years and endures to this day. Even here in Australia a lot of people know about Bonnie and Clyde, though mainly through the Faye Dunaway movie.
He covers their childhood and family life very well and provides plenty of details of the harsh, poor economic times they lived through and the circumstances of their late teens that led to their fateful meeting which developed into an enduring bond and progression into a life of crime that spiraled into senseless violence and devastation of so many lives. Sometimes there is too much psychological speculation and not enough history as the book seems to skim the surface in some areas and could have dug deeper into the history of Bonnie and Clyde, but the photos and newspaper headlines of the time are great. This book is worth a look!
amateurs on the run.......2006-12-31
It is great to read how Bonnie and Clyde were able to escape from the law over and over again untill they were gunned down in 1934. They were nothing more than two amateurs who were incredibly lucky.
In the 1967 film there is a scene where they try to rob a bank, discovering that it closed three weeks earlier. Up to now I didn't realize that this actually happened, which shows how well prepared they were commiting these bank robberies. Although the film is pretty accurate, this book gives us more information about the famous couple. It shows how they became legends in American crime history, and became even more famous after their death.
True crime lovers should read this book, because although they were amateurs, they are probably still the most famous couple in the world.
BONNIE AND CLYDE.......2004-02-27
WELLL THE BOOK I READ ABOUT WAS SO COOL AND INTRESTING.EVENTHOUGH I ONLY READ A FEW PAGES .I GOT A FEW CAPTATIONS OF THE BOOK ...BASICALLY THE BOOK WAS ABOUT,HOW IN THE LATES 1930'S TWO TO LIVE THEIR ROMANCE BY MAKING CRIMES...THE CHARACTERS OF THIS BOOK WERE BONNIE PARKER AND CLYDE BARROW..WHO WHERE A YOUNG SOCIOPATHIC SOUTHERN COUPLS GUNNED DOWN BY AUTHORITIES AFTER TWO YEARS OF CMMITING CRIME, WHO LEFTED 12 PEOPLE DEAD.THE BOOK WAS ALSO INTRESTING BECAUSE I WAS ABLE IMAGING AND PICTURE MANY OF THE READING THAT I WAS MAKING ....I WOULD RECOMMENED TO READERS WHO LIKE TO READ ABOUT CRIME, TO READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT S VERY MYSTIRIOUS AND FUN. THE AUTHOR TELLS THE WHOLE UNEDIFYING STORY FROM WRETCHED CHILDHOOD TO WRECTCH DEATH, BLOODY FAME AND WITH CLARITY, LEVEL HEADEDNESS AND WITH ECONOMY.
Strange...But Less Than a History.......2001-07-12
This is one of those books I rated much more highly when I first read it years ago. It's a "strange history" indeed. It's not always a "straight" history, anyway, dwelling more on psychological speculations about the personalities of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker and on the growth of their legend (with comparisons to older historical and/or folkloric figures such as Jesse James, Robin Hood and even King Arthur) than on a straight recounting of the facts. Movie buffs will be fascinated with the many motion picture adaptations of the Bonnie and Clyde story and that is an interesting segment which Treherne rightly confined, for the most part, to the appendices. He did leave out the 1949 film They Live By Night (Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell as Clyde & Bonnie clones) and its 1970's remake Thieves Like Us (Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall) but until Treherne's book I was completely unaware of either the 1939 film Persons in Hiding (one of four bearing this title and based in equal parts on both Bonnie and Clyde and Kathryn and George "Machine Gun" Kelly) or of the 1983 Italian comedy version. But, judging from the title, this book was supposed to be a biography of Clyde and Bonnie and a history of their criminal career. So it is, but little is to found in the historical narrative that is new. Most of it derives from previously published sources such as Jan Fortune's Fugitives and Lee Simmons' Assignment Huntsville, the former an error-ridden work based in equal parts on the recollections of Bonnie's mother and Clyde's sister and (uncredited) on a series of 1934 True Detective articles by Joplin Chief of Detectives Ed Portley, the latter valuable mainly for Simmons' recollections of the Eastham prison break and his recruitment of Frank Hamer and for the statements of gang member Joe Palmer. The confession of W.D. Jones is cited in the bibliography but Treherne seems to have read very little of it. The confession would have made a wonderful appendix, by the way, possibly with comparisons to Jones' 1968 Playboy article, of which Treherne seems completely unaware. Not that Treherne didn't do original research. The chapters on the Stringtown, OK shooting and the Platte City, MO gun battle are based largely on interviews and seem to be accurate accounts. It's a pity he didn't cover the other sites this way. Treherne apparently got no closer to Dexter, IA, the gang's Waterloo, than Des Moines, and missed a lot there. He missed out also on Okabena, MN, the site of a bank robbery Treherne, like previous and later authors, attributed, probably erroneously, to the Barrow gang, and the death site in Louisiana. Details of the final ambush seem to come mainly from the transcripts of Henry Methvin's Oklahoma murder trials and the flawed Ambush account--the ghosted memoirs of Ted Hinton. There is no evidence Treherne ever went near the death site in Bienville Parish. Still, the whole book is an enjoyable read and Treherne wisely used less commonly seen photos than the dozen or so Bonnie and Clyde pix seen in most books on the infamous duo. It is an admirable and worthwhile book. One only wishes it was the straight historical record the title implies. One cannot pschoanylize the dead and the best authorities for the love life of Bonnie and Clyde--whatever the details and whatever dubious historical significance that may entail--died with them. And the growth of the Bonnie and Clyde legend is more suited to a study of folklore than a straight biography.
Book Description
If American crime had a golden age, it was between 1920 and 1940—the roller-coaster years when a rural nation became urbanized and the nineteenth century finally gave away to the twentieth. The same forces that reshaped society also changed the face of crime, and soon the Progressive movement that battled urban decay led to the unintended consequences of increased police and political corruption, drunkenness transformed from a working-class vice to middle-class rebellion, and organized crime was established nationally.
The Complete Public Enemy Almanac is the ultimate reference book for the gangster era, with many unique features:
• A highly original and revisionist history of the period, covering the entire nation
• A unique, unmatched collection of gangster and outlaw biographies
• Hundreds of illustrations and period photographs
• A full, first-ever crime chronology of the period
• Dozens of short features on everything from the shift from local to federalized law enforcement to the history of body armor and goofy schemes to deal with "motorized bandits"
• The origins and meanings of such terms as the "one-way ride," "X marks the spot," "the real McCoy," "G-Man," "Public Enemy," and many more
• Innovative lists, including the Chicago Crime Commission's "body count" of gang-style murders during the period
• New light on the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the Kansas City Massacre, the deliberate killing of Pretty Boy Floyd, the mysterious death of Baby Face Nelson, and other events
• An exhaustive bibliography (including numerous short reviews) of every true-crime book published about gangsters and outlaws of the twenties and thirties
Meticulously documented, lavishly detailed, exhaustively researched, and written with an eye for the turths that have remained largely hidden, The Complete Public Enemy Almanac provides a reliable source of information about the violent and lawless era of the twenties and thirties.
Customer Reviews:
Countless hours of research.......2007-08-23
Reviewed by Kathleen Dowdell for Reader Views (8/07)
This beautifully-bound, 889-page, hardcopy book is a must have for any person interested in true-crime. Chock full of gangster and outlaw events of the 1920s to 1940s era, the authors have succeeded in presenting in chronological order, many little known facts that occurred in what they call the golden age of crime. The book may be a little daunting with its dialogue and graphic pictures, but it gives the reader a true sense of how life in America really was in those days and is an example of good stories often ignored because of the negative connotation they portray.
Each of the seven chapters is filled with nuggets of factual information that has been researched and documented by the authors. Besides just telling about the events that took place during this era, the authors provide in-depth information about the evolution of official police departments, passage of amendments, inception of cooperative crime control, and the development of criminal identification in crime detection laboratories in Chicago. Throughout the book, events occur in chronological order giving the reader a sense of order, enabling an easy transition from one event to the next.
An entire chapter is devoted to "quotable quotes." You can read about Al Capone's colorful remark about prohibition in which he says "When I sell liquor, they call it bootlegging. When my patrons serve it on silver trays on Lake Shore Drive, they call it hospitality," and "You can get much farther with a smile, a kind word, and a gun than you can with a smile and a kind word." One chapter's focus is on mobsters and outlaws and explains the difference between consensual crime and violent crime. Included in this chapter are short biographies of gangsters and outlaws who achieved notoriety.
It is apparent that countless hours of research went into gathering and documenting all of the information found in this book. This book could never be read in one sitting, nor would you want to rush through the meticulously scribed information. To aid in taking your research even further, the authors provide nearly 60-pages of bibliographical resources. That in itself is an added treat.
I would recommend "The Complete Public Enemy Almanac" for any historical researcher who needs accurate facts and information on how crime has influenced politics and culture. In addition, the book is filled with newspaper headlines, cartoons, pictures, and biographies about the golden age of crime. This would make a great bedside book on a dark, stormy night.
The Bible of the 1930s Outlaws and Gangsters.......2007-08-15
When I bought this book I dove right in. It reads like a timline of all the Public Enimies and their crimes. I have not put the book down since I bought it. Bill Helmer and Rick Mattix are the top dogs in the world of 1930s crime and it shows in the book. I have to say that this is the best book that I have purchased in a long time. Any fan of Alvin Karpis,John Dillinger,Lester Gillis, Aurthur Floyd, Bonnie and Clyde and Al Capone, this book is a must have. Whenever a fact is in doubt I grab my "Bible" and look it up. The best book on the subject ever.
Very impressive scholarship.......2007-07-30
This book impressively manages to break new ground in a well-tilled field by offering previously unpublished stories and photos from the gangster era, 1920-1940. The standards are all here, of course, in skillful prose -- Baby Face Nelson, the Purple Gang, Bonnie and Clyde, etc. What I'm looking for first and foremost are accurate facts, and this book has impressed many true crime scholars on that score.
The authors, both familiar and respected names in the gangster genre, manage to come up with previously unpublished photos that nobody's seen in decades, such as a "new" photo of Scarface. And I was fascinated by their take on the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the murders that spelled the death knell for Prohibition. Most impressive is the book's 58-page annotated bibliography of gangster literature, the most comprehensive I have ever seen in the true crime genre.
To my delight, the authors also rammed the back roads collecting stories of dozens of forgotten gangsters, such as Rocco Perri -- Canada's Capone. Few crime encyclopedias pass my rigorous test -- to go beyond the well-known and well-worn stories and into the lesser-known but often just as absorbing tales of minor-league criminals, the development of crime labs, and the revolution in crime control. This is an excellent, well researched, reliable encyclopedia.
Laura James
A great true crime reference book.......2007-07-29
This easy to read and well-organized book is one of the best crime reference books ever published. Its scope is huge. Using the index you can follow the careers of hundreds of famous or even little known criminals. The authors coverage of different subjects is also excellent. I highly recommend this book.
Jeffery King. author of The Life and Death of Pretty Boy Floyd and The Rise and Fall of the Dillinger Gang.
"Gangsters" They are all here and a counted for!.......2007-07-17
This is one of the most complete books on any gang or gangsters of the roaring 20's and the 1930's depression starve America. If you are a researcher this is a must. I was totally blown away, and have been hanging on every word since I open the foreword by Rose Keefe. Excellant Foreword!
Customer Reviews:
Running With Bonnie & Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults.......2007-08-15
A must read for anyone interested in Bonnie and Clyde, Ray Hamilton, Joe Palmer or about American crime in the 1930's. A well written review of an amazing life, offering a new angle on the story of the infamous Barrow Gang and the long term results of the 1934 Eastham Camp 1 breakout. A great book that takes you on a journey that you can see being played out before you. Buy it, you won't regret it!
Most factual book as far as research........2007-04-10
I know this for a fact by the author. My dad, Ralph Fults is who the book is about. John Neal Phillips did not just take my dad's word on the events in the book, he interviewed many people to back up the details of each story. If you want to encourage a young person, who thinks they cannot turn their life around, please give this book to them. It will be a great encouragement to them. If my dad can turn his life around, anyone can.
A very informative book.......2006-08-09
A very thorough book on Bonnie and Clyde. More in-depth than others I've read.
Good book for Bonnie and Clyde fans.......2006-06-26
Mr. Phillips is currently considered the foremost authority on Bonnie and Clyde, and for good reason. He is also the editor of Blanche Barrow's recently published memoirs (GREAT). I enjoyed the detail included in this book. His premise is that Clyde was driven in his life of crime by his desire to raid Eastham Prison - one of the worst prisons in Texas. As an historian myself and huge Bonnie and Clyde fan, I would have to say that the raid on Eastham was certainly a part of Clyde Barrow's larger plan (if indeed he had one), but not the sole driving factor. I also appreciate the fact that Mr. Phillips was able to interview Ralph Fults face-to-face, but Mr. Fults seemed to be a bit-part player in the story of Bonnie and Clyde. All in all this book was worth the read - the research is incredible and many former publications' myths and mistakes are straightened out.
Ralph Fults was my friend.......2005-07-03
I knew and worked with Ralph Fults at Buckner Children's Home in Dallas in the 1960s. He rarely volunteered stories, but was always ready to tell about his experiences with Bonnie and Clyde and other members of the gang when asked, as well as share his scrapbook of pictures and memories. He always emphasized that he was not with them when anyone was killed. Perhaps even more memorable than the Bonnie and Clyde stories were his experiences on death row and how he was eventually pardoned by the Governors of two states, thanks to the dedicated effort of a small group of active Christians. Ralph always used his stories to emphasize his strong Christian faith, and spent many years working at Buckner's where he could help kids. I often encouraged Ralph to write a book, but was not smart enough to offer to write it with him. Now I am glad I didn't. His story is preserved in an excellent book, better than I would have written, thanks to an excellent author. I highly recommend it to anyone with interest!
Average customer rating:
- HISTORY CRIME BUFF
- Terribly Written!
- Bonnie and Clyde: Definitely not a family story
- The facts without the fluff
- Bonnie and Clyde Story
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The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde
Phillip W. Steele , and
Marie Barrow Scoma
Manufacturer: Pelican Publishing Company
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Running With Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults
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Bonnie and Clyde: A Twenty-First-Century Update
ASIN: 156554756X |
Customer Reviews:
HISTORY CRIME BUFF.......2007-06-29
Marie Barrow the youngest of the Barrow children decided to tell her story regarding Bonnie And Clyde and brother Buck Barrow but unfortunately she died within 60 days of meeting her co-writer at the age of 81. The result was mainly rehashed stories that I had read in other publications. Not enough of her personal story was included which I attribute to her untimely death. To bad the book did not go real deep into Marie and her families personal perspective. I feel the co-writer felt he had to complete the book with recycled stories
Terribly Written!.......2005-06-11
I wanted to like this book. It was written by family of Clyde, so I thought that it might have some interesting insight into the minds of the two notorious criminals. But the book skipped from event to event without going deeper into the whys AT ALL. I did not enjoy this book one tiny little bit. I thought the writing was stilted. I thought the story lacked emotion and didn't get us involved with the characters at all. There are MUCH better books on the subject out there!
Bonnie and Clyde: Definitely not a family story.......2003-04-22
If you've seen the movie and liked it, but wanted a little more detail and background info then you should really check out The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Phillip Steele and none other than Clyde's own sister Marie Barrow Scoma. This book really takes full advantage of Marie's first hand knowledge about her brother and runs with it. Although, if you have a problem with violence or gruesome details i would probably avoid this one. Clyde Barrow's life begins near Teleco, Texas where he spent his early years often left to the care of his older sister Nell. He and his 6 other brothers and sisters were often unintentionally neglected by their parents. Even as a young child, Clyde loved movies with outlaws like Jesse James and would imagine himself to be these outlaws for weeks after seeing the movies. His family never stayed any one place very long, and, as a result, the kids didn't attend much school. The family soon moved to West Dallas, a homeless and vagrant area. Clyde left school at age 17, and, being handy with cars and machines, he easily found work. His first crime was merely taking a few turkeys from a neighbor's yard, but not long after that he pulled his first armed robbery. Then, teaming up with his brother, Buck, and a few other friends, he robbed the Buell Lumber Company. Soon after this is when the Outlaw Gang was formed and they robbed a few more shops before getting caught. When this happened, Clyde decided to clean up his act and he opened a family gas station with his dad. Clyde met Bonnie in January of 1930. Bonnie Parker, who had just suffered a divorce, was helping a friend who had broken her arm when Clyde stopped by to visit the girl he also new. "It was apparently love at first sight for both of them." Clyde spent the night at the Parkers and must have been pretty embarrassed when police showed up with warrants for his arrest. Bonnie wrote Clyde in jail and pleaded him never to do anything like this again, but she later aided in his escape by slipping him a gun that he and an inmate used on the guard. This marks the beginning of the infamous duo known as Bonnie and Clyde. Over the next few years, the 2 partners in crime, along with various other gang members, successfully rob over 100 businesses. You probably already know or at least have heard about the dramatic finale, but just in case, I'll leave it to you to read the book. I will tell you, however, that the tragic ending involves over 200 bullet holes. This book altogether gives an in depth background to each member and has incredible action along with humor and drama. I enjoyed The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde tremendously. Even if you haven't heard, read, or seen anything about Bonnie and Clyde, this book covers everthing from A to Z( even whether or not Clyde was homosexual)in a way that is fairly easy to follow. I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys action and a gripping tale of love, hate, betrayal, comedy, and two wild outlaws.
The facts without the fluff.......2003-03-21
It was a pleasure to learn more factual details about Bonnie and Clyde. What a fascinating account of the lives and deeds of this notorious pair. I certainly recommend this book.
Bonnie and Clyde Story.......2002-11-09
As a newspaper editor and historian in north Texas, "The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde" by Phillip W. Steele was extremely helpful in my research. This book provides a wealth of important details that, taken with other records, helps provide a deeper understanding of these two outlaw icons. I look forward to seeing Mr. Steele's next release on Bonnie and Clyde. Tony Swindell, Sherman (TX) Herald-Democrat
Book Description
Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967) changed American cinema, reinvigorating the gangster genre with European, New Wave techniques and a radically candid view of sex and violence. Starring Warren Beatty, who also produced, and Faye Dunaway, the film whipped up a frenzy of controversy and paved the way for the "New Hollywood" of the 70s.
For Lester D. Friedman, Bonnie and Clyde is a pivotal film that reflected and contributed to the profound change in American values in the 60s and 70s. After detailing how Penn, who was specially interviewed for the book, Beatty, and writers David Newman and Robert Benton brought the film to the screen (in the face of studio hostility), Friedman explores its revolutionary treatment of youth, fashion, crime and authority.
Customer Reviews:
Not What I Expected -- But Not Too Shabby!.......2007-06-08
Although the title should have tipped me off, I really had no idea that the book's aim was to retrace Bonnie and Clyde's pathway from their first crimes to their bloody end -- and yet that is exactly what the book sets out to do. I can't read a map to save my life so sometimes the finer details were wasted on me, but kudos to the author for his unique approach, and for his fairly thorough examination of the subject. Some of the photos are especially large and clear, and I even found a few that I had not seen before. Overall, not too shabby!
The Complete Bonnie and Clyde.......2007-03-01
This book is very likely the closest thing you'll ever see to the last word on Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Their complete history, reconstructed from both contemporary accounts and modern investigation, is laid out in detail. The aerial photography of Dexfield Park alone is visually stunning. All the other sites (both modern and contemporary) are there as well but this no mere travelogue of crime. It's a monumental work, vividly written and minutely detailed. And throughout are hundreds of contemporary photos, many never before published, maps, diagrams, and documents that fill in the gaps left out by other authors of this often-told slice of American crime history.
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The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde
