Bonnie and Clyde: The Lives Behind the Legend

The flesh-and-blood story of the outlaw lovers who shot their way across Depression-era America, based on archival research, declassified FBI documents, and interviews

The daring movie revolutionized Hollywood--now the true story of Bonnie and Clyde is told in the lovers' own voices, with verisimilitude and drama to match Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.

Strictly nonfiction--no dialogue or other material has been made up--and set in the dirt-poor Texas landscape that spawned the star-crossed outlaws, Paul Schneider's brilliantly researched and dramatically crafted tale begins with a daring jailbreak and ends with an ambush and shoot-out that consigns their bullet-riddled bodies to the crumpled front seat of a hopped-up getaway car.

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow's relationship was, at the core, a toxic combination of infatuation blended with an instinct for going too far too fast. Without glamorizing the killers, or vilifying the cops, the book, alive with action and high-level entertainment, provides a complete picture of America's most famous outlaw couple and the culture that created them.