The Napoleon of Crime: From the number one bestselling author of Operation Mincemeat & Agent Zig-Zag - Softcover

Macintyre, Ben

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006550622 ISBN 13: 9780006550624

Publisher: HarperPress, 2012

Synopsis

The rumbustious true story of the Victorian master thief who was the model for Conan Doyle’s Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’ arch-rival. From the bestselling author of ‘Operation Mincemeat’ and ‘Agent Zigzag’.

Adam Worth was the greatest master criminal of Victorian times. Abjuring violence and setting himself up as a perfectly respectable gentleman, he became the ringleader for the largest criminal network in the world and the model for Conan Doyle’s evil genius, Moriarty.

At the height of his powers, he stole Gainsborough’s famous portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, then the world’s most valuable painting, from its London showroom. The duchess became his constant companion, the symbol and substance of his achievements. At the end of his career, he returned the painting, having gained nothing material from its theft.

Worth’s Sherlock Holmes was William Pinkerton, founder of America’s first and greatest detective agency. Their parallel lives form the basis for this extraordinary book, which opens a window on the seedy Victorian underworld, wittily exposing society’s hypocrisy and double standards in a storytelling tour de force.

About this title

Review:

‘A good deal more thrilling than most thrillers’
Ruth Rendell, Daily Telegraph

‘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’
Alexander Waugh, Independent on Sunday

‘A well-researched and lively account...Macintyre has an appetite for fact, assiduity and wit’ Asa Briggs, The Times

‘This is a delicious mingling of through research, lyrical storytelling and empathetic crime reporting...a stylish, original, and picturesque story that reads better than the vast bulk of crime books currently in print’ Michael Coren, Literary Review

From the Back Cover:

''He is the Napoleon of Crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and nearly all that is undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker...''

Adam Worth was the greatest master-criminal of Victorian times. Abjuring violence and gathering the trappings of respectability, he became the ringleader of the largest criminal network in the world and the model for Conan Doyle's evil genius, Professor Moriarty.

Starting out as a professional deserter during the American Civil War, Adam Worth soon made a name for himself in the notorious Bowery district of Manhattan. Embarking on a campaign of bank robbery, forgery and fraud, he moved among the upper classes, emulated them, and robbed them blind. His most audacious coup – the theft of the world's most valuable painting.

'The Napoleon of Crime' is a true account of the Victorian underworld that rivals the most imaginative fiction.

"A well-researched and lively account...Macintyre has an appetite for fact, assiduity, and wit.'
ASA BRIGGS, 'The Times'

"This is a delicious mingling of thorough research, lyrical storytelling and empathetic crime reporting...a stylish, original and picturesque story that reads better that the vast bulk of crime books currently in print."
MICHAEL COREN, 'Literary Review'

"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."
ALEXANDER WAUGH, 'Independent on Sunday'

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperPress
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0006550622
• ISBN 13: 9780006550624
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320