The Art Thief

By Michael Finkel,

Book cover of The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession

Book description

*The New York Times bestseller*

'Brilliant' - Sunday Times

'Gripping' - Observer

'Thrilling' - Economist

'His crime spree makes for a thrilling read' - The New Yorker

'A breath-taking read, as compelling as a Highsmith novel. I loved it' - Maggie O'Farrell

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The true story of the world's most…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Art Thief as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

As I finished each chapter of this book, I couldn’t wait to read the next one. Finkel’s book is a suspenseful and psychological dive into the world of a gentleman art thief.

The disappearance in this book? Billions of dollars in stolen art. The thief? Stéphane Breitwieser is a self-proclaimed art collector living in his mother's attic with his girlfriend and their treasure trove of stolen art. What compels him to steal? How does he get away with it? How does he eventually get caught? These are the questions that kept me reading! 

The Art Thief is a narrative exposition of the long and bizarre career of one of Europe’s most “successful” art thieves (200 liftings over a decade, across Europe, valued at $2 billion); someone who stole not for profit, but out of a desire to be in the constant presence of incomparable beauty (and, clearly, had an addiction). 

Some reviewers quibbled with the fact that Finkel’s is not the first book on the subject (who cares?), relied on speculative psychological analysis, etc. but as someone unfamiliar with the story, I found the book very entertaining, and read it in one sitting. 

A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue

By Dean Jobb,

Book cover of A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue

Dean Jobb Author Of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author True crime author Journalist Professor Reader

Dean's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

The Great Gatsby meets Catch Me If You Can and the hit Netflix series Lupin in this rollicking true tale of an audacious gentleman crook.

Arthur Barry, one of the world's most successful jewel thieves, charmed the elite of 1920s New York City, swiped gems worth $60 million today from their posh country estates, and outfoxed the police and private detectives on his trail. His victims included a Rockefeller, an oil tycoon, members of Britain’s royal family, Wall Street bigwigs, and an heiress to the Woolworth five-and-dime store fortune. This tale of wealth, glamor, and deception, a charming and debonair…

A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue

By Dean Jobb,

What is this book about?

This captivating Jazz Age true crime tale about "the greatest jewel thief who ever lived" (Life Magazine), tells the incredible story of Arthur Barry, who charmed celebrities and millionaires while simultaneously planning and executing the most audacious and lucrative heists of the 1920s.

A skilled con artist and one of the most successful burglars in history, Arthur Barry was adept at slipping in and out of bedrooms undetected, even when his victims slept only inches away. He became a folk hero, a gentleman bandit touted in the press as the "Prince of Thieves" and an "Aristocrat of Crime." Think Cary…


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