lovers. fugitives. legends

Reading List

Bonnie and Clyde Serious Reading and Information

Now as through the world I wander,
I see lots of funny men:
Some rob you with a six gun,
Some with a fountain pen.       
           
By Nelson Algren

Running with Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults  by John Neal Phillips.
Ralph Fults was one of the few survivors among numerous associates who ended up shot, stabbed, beaten to death, or executed. Running with Bonnie and Clyde shows the real people, products of social, political and economic forces that directed them into a life of crime and bound them to it for eternity. Phillips substantiates Faults viewpoint with references, scores of eyewitness interviews, police files and court documents, and contemporary news accounts. Phillips is a depression era expert on outlaws, but most notably, Bonnie and Clyde. An important contribution to criminal and social history and a must read for anyone with serious intentions for examining the truth.

My Life With Bonnie & Clyde  by Blanche Caldwell Barrow, John Neal Phillips
"PEOPLE ONLY LIVE HAPPILY ever after in fairy tales..."  Blanch was Clyde Barrows sister in law. Manuscript written while in prison for harboring Bonnie and Clyde. Censored by prison officials. A must read.

Bonnie and Clyde: A 21st Century Update by Jim Knight and Jonathon Davis.
A new contribution to the growing body of serious historical research on the outlaw couple, whose story has taken near mythical status but has often been told with little regard for the facts. Includes eyewitness accounts not seen elsewhere. The ultimate comprehensive biography of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker.

The Fugitives formerly titled The Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Emma Parker, Nell Barrow and Jan Fortune. Written in 1934 right after the deaths of Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie’s mother and Clyde’s older sister Nell, give family insights, childhood stories, and inside accounts and statements from the notorious couple. The first written account from the families perspective, complied arranged, and edited by Jan Fortune. Sift through the emotion and recognize the moonshine.

Ambush by Ted Hinton.  
The story of Bonnie and Clyde – Their love, their desperate killings, and their destruction in an explosion of gun fire – has fueled American legend for over seventy years. But it is only with this book by the last surviving officer of the six who shot Bonnie and Clyde that the full story of their capture has been told.  

Over The Wall: The Men behind The 1934 Death House Escape by Patrick M. McConel.
Never before revealed facts and eye-witness testimony – as well as newly uncovered, controversial photos – highlight the story of the men who dared escape the Huntsville Prison Walls Unit in 1934.

On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde: Then and Now by Winston Ramsey

Depression Desperado: The Chronicle of Raymond Hamilton by Sid Underwood

Life and Times of Bonnie and Clyde by E.R. Millner

Assignment Huntsville by Lee Simmons

Don’t call Us Gun Molls by Ellen Poulson. 

Additional Information

Bonnie and Clyde Festival in Gibsland Louisiana on or around the date of their deaths May 23, 1934. People come from all over the world to hear historians and authors give Q & A and see re-enactments of the fatal site where they were ambushed and killed. Contact the Ambush Museum. Excellent source for hard to find books on the subject.
For festival information 318-843-1934   
www.swhistorical.com

Blanche Barrow family website Full fledged website on Blanche, Bonnie and Clyde, Buck and others.  Contains information, pictures and videos.  Operated by Debbie Moss, Blanche Barrow's niece.

Goldmine of information about the people and the best web site on the subject.  Frank Ballinger, Historian:  http://texashideout.tripod.com/bc.htm

Information about Henry Methvin, another associate/member of the Barrow gang. Very informative, with pictures of the ambush site and commentary.

Author Note:
It has long been the tendency to criticize Clyde Barrow. Seems ludicrous to criticize a criminal for not having been more of a criminal, or not being the type of criminal people expected him to be. But such is the substance of American culture.

Clyde Barrow never set out to become a popular folk hero, or anti-hero, depending on ones view. Nor did he care that much for money, indeed, he gave most of his ill gotten gains to family and friends. To Clyde money was a vague and abstract concept, it was something one needed only to make daily expenses, nothing more, nothing less, it certainly wasn't the root of happiness, No, the seed of what grew inside Clyde Barrow was sown and nurtured to full maturity in prison.   “Running with Bonnie and Clyde: The fast Ten Years of Ralph Fults” by John Neal Phillips