Skip to main content

John Boessenecker

Biography

John Boessenecker

John Boessenecker is considered one of the leading authorities on crime and lawlessness in the Old West. He is the award-winning author of six books, including BANDIDO: The Life and Times of Tiburcio Vasquez and WHEN LAW WAS IN THE HOLSTER: The Frontier Life of Bob Paul. In 2011 and 2013, True West magazine named Boessenecker Best Nonfiction Writer. He has appeared frequently as a historical commentator on PBS, The History Channel, A&E and others. He lives in San Francisco, California.

John Boessenecker

Books by John Boessenecker

Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde
by John Boessenecker - Biography, Nonfiction

From the horseback days of the Old West through the gangster days of the 1930s, Frank Hamer (known only as the “villain” of the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde) stood on the frontlines of some of the most important and exciting periods in American history. He participated in the Bandit War of 1915, survived the climactic gunfight in the last blood feud of the Old West, battled the Mexican Revolution’s spillover across the border, protected African Americans from lynch mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, and ran down gangsters, bootleggers and Communists. When at last his career came to an end, it was only when he ran up against another legendary Texan: Lyndon B. Johnson.