In this captivating Jazz Age true crime about "the greatest jewel thief who ever lived" (Life Magazine), Arthur Barry, who charmed celebrities and millionaires while simultaneously planning and executing the most audacious and lucrative heists of the 1920s.
In this captivating Jazz Age true crime about "the greatest jewel thief who ever lived" (Life Magazine), Arthur Barry, who charmed celebrities and millionaires while simultaneously planning and executing the most audacious and lucrative heists of the 1920s.
In this captivating Jazz Age true crime about "the greatest jewel thief who ever lived" (Life Magazine), 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 Grant in To Catch a Thief. In a span of seven years, Barry stole pearls, diamonds, and other precious gems worth almost $60 million today. Among his many victims were a Rockefeller, an heiress to the Woolworth Department Store fortune, an oil magnate, Wall Street bigwigs, a top executive of automotive giant General Motors, and a famous polo player. He befriended the Prince of Wales, Harry Houdini, and other luminaries. The rollicking, caper-filled rise and dramatic downfall of this master thief is a high-speed ride told in stylish prose.A Gentleman and a Thief is also a love story. Barry confessed to dozens of burglaries to protect his wife, Anna Blake (and was the prime suspect in scores of others on Long Island and across Westchester County). Sentenced to a twenty-five-year term, he staged a dramatic prison break-triggering a bloody inmates' riot-when Anna became seriously ill, so they could be together for a few more years as fugitives. Page-turning, escapist, and sparkling with insight into the allure of gemstones and our fascination with well-planned heists and the suave, clever criminals who pull them off, A Gentleman and a Thief is perfect for true crime fans who relish the exploits of con artists and high-class crooks."A Gentleman and a Thief needs to be on your TBR list! ... A mesmerizing tale of heists, love and the Age of Jazz ... an unforgettable true crime page-turner."--WhatWeReading.com
"An immensely readable book that is part biography, part history of the early 20th century .... Engaging and engrossing."--Historical Novel Review
"I was totally drawn in by the life and crimes of Arthur Barry in Jazz Age New York. The sheer effrontery of the man .... Unputdownable!" -Liz Fielding--The Strand Magazine
"[A] stylish biography ... Jobb entertainingly describes Barry's most notable heists."--Wall Street Journal
"The fascinating double life of Jazz Age anti-hero Arthur Barry ... will appeal to fans of exhilarating true crime stories and stylish narrative nonfiction alike."--The Archive
"Jobb's impeccable research and captivating writing style takes the reader into the heart of 1920s New York, crafting an intelligent, thoughtful and exciting account of the life and times of one of the United States's most infamous lawbreakers." --Winnipeg Free Press
"Fantastic. Arthur Barry's exploits will appeal not only to fans of true crime and the Roaring Twenties but to anyone who loves a clever, elaborate heist and the debonair criminal who can pull it off."--BookBrowse.com
"The rollicking, caper-filled rise and dramatic downfall of this master thief is a high-speed ride told in stylish prose."
"The rollicking tale of a Gatsby-esque rake who delighted in diamonds ... irresistible ... Jobb once again plunges into a real-life, forgotten tale of an audacious criminal and emerges with a story that supports the clich� that truth is stranger than fiction." --Washington Independent Review of Books
Dean Jobb is the author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream, winner of the inaugural CrimeCon CLUE Award for true crime book of the year and longlisted for the American Library Association's Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. His previous books include Empire of Deception, which the New York Times Book Review called "intoxicating and impressively researched" and the Chicago Writers Association named the Nonfiction Book of the Year. Esquire magazine has hailed him as "a master of narrative nonfiction." Jobb has written for major newspapers and magazines, including the Chicago Tribune and Toronto's Globe and Mail and his monthly true crime column, "Stranger Than Fiction," appears in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. He is a professor at the University of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he teaches in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction program.
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