Go Down Together

Previous books and films have emphasized the supposed glamour of America's most notorious criminal couple, thus contributing to ongoing mythology. The real story is completely different--and far more fascinating.

With newly discovered material, bestselling author Jeff Guin tells the real tale of two kids from a filthy Dallas slum who fell in love and then willingly traded their lives for a brief interlude of excitement and, more importantly, fame. The timing for their first heist could not have been better, when most Americans, reeling from the Great Depression, were desperate for escapist entertainment. Thanks to newsreels, true crime magazines, and new-fangled wire services that transmitted scandalous photos of Bonnie smoking a cigar to every newspaper in the nation, the Barrow Gang members almost instantly became household names. In the minds of the public, they were cool, calculating bandits who robbed banks and killed cops with equal impunity.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. Clyde and Bonnie were perhaps the most inept crooks ever, and their two-year crime spree was as much a reign of error as it was of terror. Lacking the sophistication to plot robberies of big-city banks, the Barrow Gang preyed mostly on small mom-and-pop groceries and service stations. Even at that, they often came up empty-handed and were reduced to breaking into gum machines for meal money. Both were crippled, Clyde from cutting off two of his toes while in prison and Bonnie from a terrible car crash caused by Clyde's reckless driving. Constantly on the run from the law, they lived like animals, camping out in their latest stolen car, bathing in creeks, and dining on cans of cold beans and Vienna sausages. Yet theirs was a genuine love story. Their devotion to each other was as real as their overblown reputation as criminal masterminds was not.

Now, thanks in great part to surviving Barrow and Parker family members and collectors of criminal memorabilia who provided Jeff Guinn with access to never-before-published material, we finally have the real story of Bonnie and Clyde and their troubled times, delivered with cinematic sweep and unprecedented insight by a masterful storyteller.

“"This is the best Bonnie and Clyde book I've ever seen. Three-quarters of a century after their deaths, and following a multitude of contradictory accounts by surviving participants,Go Down Togetherstill manages to lift the veil and uncover surprising new stories and details and fresh insights into both the famous outlaw lovers and the team of manhunters who brought them down. An eye-opener that will set historians and crime buffs alike talking for a long time to come."-- Rick Mattix, coauthor ofThe Complete Public Enemy Almanac”

"Engaging. . . reads like a road story--two kids from the Dallas slums in a fast car, headed to nowhere good."

--The New Yorker

"A fine work of history. . . . Easily readable and includes much of the last
two decades' new scholarship. . . . Especially good at . . . placing Bonnie
and Clyde in context." --Bryan Burrough,
The New York Times Book Review
"A rollicking read, an astonishing story of perseverance in the face of hopelessness,
and a perverse tale of two lovers whom only death could part."
--Mark Dunkelman, The Providence Journal
"Guinn cuts through the sex and gunsmoke surrounding the gangster
love story of Bonnie and Clyde. . . . A welcome corrective."
--J. Lynn Lunsford, The Wall Street Journal
"Guinn has deftly restored the humanity of America's best known
crime couple, stripping away the Hollywood glamour and hype with
the unvarnished but equally compelling truth."
--Kathleen Krog, The Miami Herald

Jeff Guinn is the bestselling author of numerous books, including Go Down Together, The Last Gunfight, Manson, The Road to Jonestown, War on the Border, and Waco. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame.

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