Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde

Very good read! Well researched & well written, Goes beyond the legends & the hype. The author did a good job of presenting that although they were tragic figures ( & in particular Bonnie) they were essentially two bit thugs who never stole anywhere near the money that the other "classic" gangsters of the era such as Dillinger & Pretty Boy Floyd & never lived as luxuriously as those gangsters, often camping in the woods or sleeping in the vehicles that they stole. Although I knew that they had robbed several National Guard armories, of military grade weapons such as BARs & .45 cal handguns, I never realized till I read this book the large number of weapons that they stole. Good classic American story.

The story is well told. Lots of previously unknown details, but could use more and better quality photographic documentation. That said, anyone reading this book already knows how their story ends, right? Bonnie and Clyde were murdered by a posse of trigger-happy gunmen, Frank Hamer included. But again, the whole story leading up to that end keeps you interested.

I read this on a long plane ride, and it was well written and interesting. I have read several books and of course seen the movie(s). One thing that caused me to buy this was the blurb about how this was a different take on the reality of these two. By the time I finished it, I was actually more impressed than ever with the Arthur Penn movie from 1967 and how attentive it was to their actual history. Yes, it glamorized them, but so did the American people for a year or two during their death spin. These two were occasional bank robbers, and generally klutzy two-bit thieves who lived off gum ball machine money sometimes. The movie certainly de-emphasized or skated past the vicious murder aspect of their spree. It also omitted the fact that they were both seriously physically mangled most of the time, but you can't really sell a movie around that. I'm just referencing the movie because most of the incidents are in there with relative accuracy, and I think it did depict their grubby, inept crime spree, considering these two kept their appearances up throughout (in ways that seem bizarre and impossible considering they were sloshing around in creeks and camping most of the time). I saw the movie when it came out and several times since, and it is one of the great American films. It's interesting that it was an incredible sensation when it came out, due to the prevalence of the same zeitgeist in the late 60's as in the early 30's concerning rich people, police and authority in general. Back to the book. This is by far the most detailed, presumably accurate, and compelling print version of this story I have read. It has a few strange typos here and there, which seems odd for a book that has been digitized. Anyway, I'm happy I spent the money for it, and well worth reading on an 8 hour flight.

Great read for Bonnie & Clyde history buffs!

The best you can hope for from a biographer is that he/she keeps the narrative moving, provides ample details without burying the reader, and remains objective about his subject. Jeff Guinn checks all the boxes here. He ties everything together so seamlessly about Bonnie and Clyde that it's only at the end of the book I realized all the effort that went into piecing together unreliable sources into a coherent story. Bonnie and Clyde became famous to a newer generation thanks to the movie, but the truth was far different--everything except their loyalty to each other and fatalism about dying in a hail of bullets. But Guinn, to his credit, doesn't dwell on the film or its inaccuracies, simply advising readers to watch it for entertainment, not historical, value. Bonnie and Clyde grew up dirt poor in the slums of West Dallas. Both were physically very small people. Initially I felt a little sympathy for Clyde, whose childhood is covered in more depth here than Bonnie's. He came from a Christian family and tried to work straight jobs but would never get ahead in life no matter how hard he worked. I could at least see his motive for turning to crime. It was a practical solution for Clyde, a high-school dropout. Bonnie was smarter but followed Clyde and romanticized crime. Clyde started as a car thief, eventually being sent to prison and the infamous work farm in Texas, where he committed his first murder, killing another convict who repeatedly raped him. Clyde was hardened into a career criminal in prison. He cut off two of his own toes to be free of it but afterwards was constantly harassed by police, keeping him from holding a straight job. Bonnie and Clyde had a rotating crew but were bad at crime. They did a lot of petty holdups, and even their bank robberies were for small amounts. They likened themselves to other well-known criminals of the era but were not in that league. They spent a lot of time driving around and sleeping in stolen cars in fields and bathing in streams. They were always on the run. Clyde was lauded as a great driver, but he always drove too fast. At one point he drove off the road, causing Bonnie's leg to be permanently mangled in the accident. He killed a lot of people, mostly police. There ended up being nothing redeemable about him except perhaps his loyalty to Bonnie, family, and friends. But then he trusted the convict who conspired to lead him into the ambush with police. I came away thinking that both Bonnie and Clyde were resigned to their fate but were also very naive. They believed too much of the hype from newspapers and thought that somehow they would overcome their circumstances, all the while being hunted. They believed in their own luck because they had shot their way free in a couple standoffs, even while other gang members were shot, including Clyde's brother, who was killed. They ultimately spread their bad luck to everyone around them, infecting their families. There was nothing glamorous about their lives, and Guinn's is a depressing story told well.

I became interested in Bonnie and Clyde after seeing their car and story at Whiskey Pete's in Nevada. This seems to be the book to get if you are interested in the true story. Very honestly and well written. When facts were unclear it was noted. Mr. Guinn had access to the best information and still living family members. It would seem impossible to improve on this book for accuracy. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in their story.

Even though I've always been interested in U.S. crime, especially during the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, for some reason I've never had more than a passing interest in Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Simply because so much material has been published about this murderous duo, however, I have read a number of books about them. I can state in all honesty that "Go Down Together" has to be the single most in-depth study of these two outlaws written to date. Every crime attributed to this pair is closely examined, evaluated and supported by historical data - official police and/or FBI files, interviews, newspaper clippings, and manuscripts (some of which were unpublished) of criminal associates and family members. This is an extremely accurate, objective narrative of two youths from the wrong side of the tracks who blasted their way into infamy during the early Thirties. Again, I'm not a Bonnie and Clyde buff, but if you are, this book is definitely something you will want to read.

There is Bonnie and Clyde in the movies and legend and then there is history at the end she was so badly hurt from an auto accident she could not walk, he limped he was short with big ears. Her sister in law was better looking it was the barrow gang. But she wrote poetry. Interesting book and liked his others