A Gentleman and a Thief
The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
National Bestseller
Globe and Mail Bestseller List
Toronto Star Bestseller List
Finalist Chicago Writers Association Nonfiction Book of the Year Award
An Amazon.com Editors’ Pick as a Best Book, Best History & Best Biography
Catch Me If You Can meets The Great Gatsby in this Jazz Age tale of a master jewel thief who charmed celebrities and hobnobbed with New York’s millionaires while planning audacious heists to relieve them of their treasures.
A skilled con artist and perhaps one of the most charming, audacious burglars in history, Arthur Barry slipped in and out of the bedrooms of New York’s wealthiest residents, even as his victims slept only inches away. He befriended luminaries such as the Prince of Wales and Harry Houdini and became a folk hero, touted in the press as “the greatest jewel thief who ever lived” and an “aristocrat of crime.” In a span of seven years, Barry stole diamonds, pearls, and other gems worth almost $60 million today. Among his 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.
Dean Jobb—hailed by Esquire magazine as “a master of narrative nonfiction”—once again delivers a stylishly told, high-speed ride. 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). Sentenced to a twenty-five-year term, he staged a dramatic prison break when Anna became seriously ill so they could be together for a few more years as fugitives.
With dozens of historic images, A Gentleman and a Thief is page-turning escapism that sparkles with insight into our fascination with jewel heists and the suave, clever criminals who pull them off.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jobb follows up The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream with a top-shelf work of true crime focused on lovestruck "gentleman thief" Arthur Barry (1896–1981). A con artist since his teens, Barry returned to New York City after serving in WWI and used the city's Social Register to identify targets for a spate of jewel thefts from 1920 to 1927. During the same period that he was slipping in and out of second-story windows belonging to Manhattan's rich and famous, Barry met and fell in love with young widow Anna Blake. After the two were married, Blake began assisting Barry in his criminal activities. When authorities finally caught Barry in 1927, he confessed to several crimes Blake had committed in order to spare her jail time. While Barry was incarcerated, Blake was diagnosed with cancer, and he staged a prison riot to escape and be with her until she died. After his subsequent arrest, return to prison, and parole, Barry became a minor celebrity. Jobb tells Barry's tale with both rigor and pathos, painting a tender portrait of a crook who was never fearsome (one victim described him as "charming"). This is liable to steal readers' hearts.
