Customer Reviews

Ambush: The Real Story of Bonnie and Clyde

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ted Hinton was one of the six officers who ambushed and killed Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. He had also known Clyde and Bonnie before they became outlaws, growing up in the same West Dallas slum, and remained a friend of the Barrow and Parker families. This gives the book some unique personal insights usually absent from cops & robbers documentaries. That, plus some previously unpublished photos, are worth an extra star in this reviewer's mind. On the other hand, Hinton's version of the final ambush is as questionable as every previous account and there are errors scattered throughout the book, possibly owing to slips of memory, or possibly due to slipups from Hinton's collaborator. Bonnie Parker was not present at the Stringtown, OK shooting, a fact attested to by all eyewitness accounts. Moreover, the Hinton-Grove account of the shooting, with Bonnie dancing with both Clyde and Hamilton, whirling about in a red dress, and the "prettiest girl" in the place, is actually copied almost word for from a 1945 dime novel (The Blood-Soaked Career of Bonnie Parker: How Clyde Barrow and His Cigar-Smoking Moll Fought It Out With the Law! by W.R. and Mabel Draper). The chapter on "Machine Gun" Kelly and Harvey Bailey appears to be largely nonsensical fiction. Contrary to Hinton--and he seems to inject himself into the case much sooner than he actually was--W.D. Jones was not identified by Dallas deputies immediately after the Joplin, MO gun battle and remained unidentified for months afterwards. The Barrows' participation in professionally executed bank robberies at Okabena, MN and Alma, ARK is highly questionable and, again contrary to Hinton, no witnesses identified Clyde and Bonnie in the November 1933 robbery of a Texas refinery (a job actually pulled by the Whitey Walker-Blackie Thompson gang). Still, there is much good information here and it is a must for Bonnie and Clyde aficionados.

I'm not sure who's responsible--Hinton or his co-writer--but this little volume is surprisingly "literary" in its account of the B & C saga. Hinton was one of two Dallas deputies who were on the manhunt from the beginning, and his account of the long hunt is interesting in its emphases and interpretations. His main idea--spoiler alert--is that the posse basically kidnapped Irvine Methvin to use as bait to lure Clyde into slowing or stopping that fateful day in May, 1934, in Louisiana. After the shootings, Frank Hamer made a quick deal with the old guy, to get a pardon in Texas for Irvine's boy Henry (who'd run with B & C and who'd done the shooting on the two highway patrol officers) in exchange for Irvine's agreement not to press charges against the posse. True? I don't know, but it sure is interesting and gives a drastically different view of the ending of the manhunt. On the actual shootings, Hinton delivers a tour de force evocation of 12 seconds of maximum violence as six officers, each with several guns (Hinton had four, a BAR, a semi-auto shotgun and two .45s) emptied their weapons into Clyde's V-8. Hinton maintains that Clyde was reaching for a gun after Alcorn called "HALT" and therefore the shooting was justified. But it's in his self-interest to do so. So what really happened? We can only guess.

Ambush: The Real Story of Bonnie and Clyde is Ted Hinton's account describing the early years and the facts leading up to the bloody end of two desparate criminals. Hinton speaks out as one of the six men who killed Bonnie and Clyde in a hailstorm of bullets without warning on the morning of May 23, 1934 near Gibsland, Louisiana. This book is well illustrated and provides several rare pictures. I recommend this book to readers.

Ted Hinton one of six lawmen who participated in the ambush of Bonnie & Clyde. He grew up in the same neighborhood as Bonnie & Clyde, giving him a different perspective than most other lawmen involved in tracking the outlaws down. The book is much more accurate than many B&C books, avoiding the myths that are perpetuated in many works. Extemely interesting, including the "captured" film left behind at the scene of a shootout in Missouri and photos taken at the ambush scene & funeral home.

A very good book, written from the perspective of one of the officers on the trail of the fugitives. This book provides insight into several areas which aren't mentioned by other writers on the Barrow gang. A well-written, fluid book, for the most part. Definitely worth searching for, since it appears to be out of print.

This book is great for the Bonnie and Clyde or outlaw enthusiast. For years we all believed the story we had grown up with. Ambush was written by one of the men who participated in the slaying of this notorious duo. He, along with the others made a vow not to tell what really happened until only one remained. Well, this is it. The truth. Great reading. A can't put down book.

During a quick trip back home to North East Texas, we stopped in Gibsland, Louisiana to visit the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum. There wasn't a single thing in that museum that I found as spell binding as the gentleman running the place. His name is L.J. "Boots" Hinton, the son of one of the lawmen involved in the Bonnie and Clyde ambush. I enjoyed my visit with him, during which he explained to me that the six lawmen had made an agreement that the 'last one standing' would have the option to tell the real story of what happened on that bloody day in May 1934.

Ted Hinton was the last man standing. He finished the manuscript in 1977, but died before it was published. His son saw to it that the book was published. This is that book. It was difficult to put down and the story flowed well. I won't ruin it for any of you who may want to read this book but suffice it to say the commonly told story of the ambush is not accurate. The real story was is jaw dropping.

I highly recommend the visit, the book, and the drive 8 miles from the museum to the actual ambush site.

These two people were murdered plain and simple. Even back then BS made the world go round and the only difference was the sensationalism came in the form of newspapers and not 24 hour cable news channels. I am not condoning what Bonnie and Clyde did, but I do feel that any good marksman and one shot in the head a piece would have done the trick, but the 150 rounds of ammunition was just the publicity the FBI and Hoover needed to prove the effectiveness of the new FBI, which got him the publicity and funding he needed. We still have no proof Bonnie ever killed anyone, just a bunch of "eyewitnesses." Imagine if she never committed murder? Did she deserve to die that way? Boy how times have changed, if a police officer discharges his weapon today, an investigation is launched and he is placed on administrative duty. Also a few of the lawmen were breaking the law themselves by being in Louisiana, which was not thier jurisdiction. I guess this is one of those instances of "do as I say..not as I do."

all it did was make the cops look like heroes, some was true, but not really.