The Lives and Times of Bonnie Clyde

by E.R. Milner

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gleaning materials from obscure locally published accounts, previously untapped court records, and archived but unpublished oral history accounts from some sixty victims, neighbors, relatives, and police who were involved in the exploits of the infamous duo.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.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography, Crime

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Melisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been interested in these two outlaws. After reading a very short book about outlaw women I looked in the index and found this nonfiction book as one of the resources. I found the way this book was written, laying out the facts and not prone to exaggeration, to be very engaging. I definitely recommend this book if you're interested in this part of history.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books reads like a crime report, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on personal preference. I do appreciate that the author did not over romanticize the couple and downplay the fact that they were indeed criminals. The book utilized a fairly extensive amount of sources, such news articles and interviews published at the time; however, it was published over 20 years ago, so new details could have surfaced.

I would definitely recommend this book for those who would like to know more about Bonnie and Clyde beyond the fact that they were supposed to be the real life (as well as the criminal version of ) Romeo and Juliet.

[Mari McR · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated Milner's objective writing that focused on facts, rather than the strong emotions, one way or the other, for two of the most famous outlaws in American history. The author depicted the couple through the eyes of witnesses, some of whom were kidnapped then later released by Bonnie and Clyde. I would have given the book five stars, except it omitted a critical time in Clyde's life at the Eastham Prison Farm where the abuse in the hands of convicts (guards?) may have created a hardened criminal.

[RonnieRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone in the middle of her Bonnie and Clyde hyper fixation, I’ve been eating Bonnie and Clyde books alive (I have single handedly taken every book on them out of my university Library, so, sorry to anyone who maybe needs those), and often, finding a book that strikes a careful balance between more personal information and the more factual chronology is hard. As someone focused on them as people, it can be difficult to find sources that really dig into their actual “characters”, psychologies, etc. This is especially true considering that this hyper fixation was born from the Musical (which is incredible and also VERY accurate to the true story of Bonnie and Clyde so you should totally check that out), which means my interest in their relationship and actual beings as people was more of a concern to me than the lists of their raids, crimes, etc.
This book incredibly blends the two, presenting the very obvious information, tracking of their crimes and run ins, breaking down the issues with the law and prison system, while also giving their relationship and identities the time to shine. There’s plenty of “dialogue” in this book that presents their individual characters and shines an effective light on their relationship, not to mention, brings the book and story to life. A lot of history centered books like this can often just be a listing of facts (something I ran into a lot with Joan of Arc), and while that’s well and good, it can sometimes be a slog to get through or just counterproductive if you’re perhaps looking to know more about them as individuals. This book, luckily doesn’t do that, and instead presents the perfect balance between necessary breakdowns and more “personal” interactions. Not to mention, this book fully focuses on Bonnie and Clyde, something that I’ve noticed a lot of other sources don’t exactly do (whether it be Blanche’s book focusing more on Buck, Fult’s book focusing more on him, or even other B and C books that choose to talk about the Sheriff who killed them instead of the main players, it’s weirdly common). This one doesn’t do that, the lens stays effectively on B and C the entire time, and only ever strays to provide further context and insight.
Something else that I did indeed appreciate about this book is how it broke down the events after they died, because that’s actually super important to their story and often get left out. Fair enough, you’d assume their story is over once they’re dead, but the opposite is true. Especially when focusing on the abuse of the people in power and the justice system, showing how they were treated after their death only highlights that more. I won’t get into it here for obvious reasons, but the way this writer actually spoke about the happenings and highlighted them was extraordinarily well done, and provide super crucial context that many other sources lack.
And last but not least, the tone in this book is phenomenal. While this might seem like an odd critique, it’s actually hugely important to me, and something worth mentioning. Because I’ve read so many books and sources on these two, I’ve noticed some patterns in how they’re written about, and one of the… more offensive and unfortunately common ways that show up are tones that are either invasive (like this one source that was OBSESSED with Clyde’s sexuality and trauma) or sources that often label Clyde or Bonnie as fully violent, lacking all sympathy, or as outright awful people, which is something that, if you know even the slightest thing about these two, you’d know is not true and was actually fabricated by the very justice system abusing people. And this book highlights that, it shows how nuanced they were as people, portrays the way they were painted in press, media, and by those in power (and how it was often off if not utterly wrong)- this source even works to show the commitment Bonnie and Clyde had to each other, as well as their love of their families (like Bonnie’s closeness with her mother and sister or Clyde’s love of his family and attempt to sway his younger siblings from a life of crime). The tone taken on in this book is one that clearly understands that nuance, and that worked incredibly hard to portray the abuse of the system.
The TLDR: this book is great for any Bonnie and Clyde enjoyer and gets the job done.

[Cathy Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of this book. It may have been better in print where it easier to go back and check facts.
It is a mostly factual book based on primary sources of the time. I have read quite a bit about Bonnie and Clyde, having been interested in them most of my life. I did learn some new things, and feel like I have more insight into them. However some major events of their lives, particularly Clyde’s are not mentioned. Also there are many quoted conversations. I suppose some are from witness interviews, but others I wondered about.
All in all, an interesting addition to the history of these depression era outlaws.

[Tami · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does read like a crime report, I felt like the story was out of order which made it a bit confusing. Also, I felt like there were several discrepancies with some of the facts.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

** 2.5- 3 stars**
I feel like this glossed over events to much. Not. Comprehensive look at Bonnie and Clyde.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched but slightly out of date and incomplete. The book states that Blanche Barrow (Clyde Barrows SIL)faded from history and her whereabouts are unknown. This is not true: she served a brief prison term, remarried and quietly worked in Texas as a hairdresser until her death. The book also makes no mention of Clyde's brutal abuse at the hands of other convicts at a Texas prison farm, which was key to his turning into a hardened, violent criminal. But the book is interesting to read, and the photographs are interesting to see. (The photo of their dead bodies is a bit graphic, skip it if you are squeamish)

[HeavyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an academic book, but it is nontheless accessible and readable. It was interesting to read the "facts" about people who are shrouded in American mythology.