The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief: The Napoleon of Crime

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Description

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOKFrom the bestselling, acclaimed author of A Spy Among Friends, The Spy and the Traitor, and Rogue Heroes, the vastly entertaining saga of Adam Worth, the most notorious bank thief of Victorian society and the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Moriarty.The Victorian era’s most infamous and iconic thief, Adam Worth, was known as the Napoleon of Crime. Suave, cunning, and fearless, Worth learned early that the best way to succeed was to steal—and steal he did. Following a strict code of honor, Worth won the respect of Victorian society. He also aroused its fear by becoming a chilling phantom, mingling undetected with the upper classes, whose valuables he brazenly stole. His most celebrated heist: Gainsborough’s grand portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire—ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales—a painting Worth adored and often slept beside for twenty years. With a brilliant and colorful gang, Worth secretly ran operations from New York to London, Paris, and South Africa—until betrayal and a Pinkerton man finally brought him down.Here is a grand, dazzling tour into the gaslit underworld of the nineteenth century, and into the doomed genius of a criminal mastermind.

Additional information

Weight 0.3 kg
Dimensions 2.06 × 13.19 × 20.25 cm
PubliCanadation City/Country

Canada

by

Format

Paperback

Language

Pages

368

Publisher

Year Published

2020-8-25

Imprint

ISBN 10

0771029829

About The Author

BEN MACINTYRE is a writer-at-large for The Times (U.K.) and the bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends, Double Cross, Operation Mincemeat, Agent Zigzag, and Rogue Heroes, among other books. Macintyre has also written and presented BBC documentaries of his work.

“Adam Worth, the greatest thief of the nineteenth century, could have furnished the basis of a great novel. No need though: in The Napoleon of Crime, Ben Macintyre has given him a biography that reads like one.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review“A good deal more thrilling than most thrillers.” —Daily Telegraph“Entertaining . . . This true-crime drama is as interesting for the personalities it captures as for the capers it dissects.” —Newsday“Compelling.” —USA Today“A most remarkable and entertaining biography. It is a highly charged thriller, a moving love affair, a dramatic history of the Victorian criminal underworld, a noble tragedy.” —Independent on Sunday“Giving new meaning to the term ‘art appreciation,’ Ben Macintyre’s biography of Adam Worth could not be more imaginative, riveting, adventurous, or poignant if it were a work of fiction. Macintyre masterfully shows up the hypocrisy of Victorian society.” —Time Out New York“Meticulously researched . . . this finely crafted, often entertaining account ultimately captures its subject.” —The Sun “Delightful, gripping, touching, exotic, peopled with highly colorful characters and written with humor and brilliant polish.” —James Lord, author of Some Remarkable Men“I wish, from this day forward, that everything I learn about history could be channeled through Ben Macintyre’s brilliant sensibility and elegant voice. The Napoleon of Crime is a joy and a revelation to read.” —Robert Olen Butler, author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain“A fascinating tale faultlessly told . . . thoroughly enjoyable.” —Eric Zencey, author of Panama

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