Criminals and folk heroes

During the Great Depression, writers of True Crime could take the decade off: life was imitating art so dramatically they had nothing to add.

In these pages historian Robert Underhill presents the most notorious criminals of 1930-1934: Wilbur Underhill, Alvin Karpis, the Barker Clan, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, the Barrows (Buck, Blanche, Clyde, and Bonnie), and John Dillinger along with supporting material on their henchmen and the rise of the FBI.Often armed better than the police, criminals of the 1930s committed deeds ranging from stealing chickens to kidnappings, bank robberies, and killing innocent victims.

Yet such crimes were often taken in stride by avid readers.

Cooperation among local, state and federal lawmen was rare as each sought to protect his own turf.

Criminals and lawmen made mistakes battling one another, but in most cases the law triumphed and the wanted fugitive died under a hail of bullets.

His death would start myths and raise his reputation to national status.