The Napoleon of Crime

Praise

“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
 
“Entertaining . . . This true-crime drama is as interesting for the personalities it captures as for the capers it dissects.”—Newsday
 
“A carefully researched and smoothly narrated tale.”—The Washington Post

“Compelling.”—USA Today

“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

“Engaging.”—Atlantic Monthly

“Meticulously researched . . . this finely crafted, often entertaining account ultimately captures its subject.”—The Sun [UK]

“Delightful, gripping, touching, exotic, people 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

“A fascinating tale faultlessly told . . . thoroughly enjoyable.”—Eric Zencey, author of Panama

“A good deal more thrilling than most thrillers.”—Daily Telegraph [UK]

“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 [UK]