Travis Simpkins: "The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief" by Ben Macintyre

The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief

by Ben Macintyre. Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishers. 1997

by Travis Simpkins

The most famous and successful criminal of the Victorian age, Adam Worth presided over an illicit empire of fraud, forgery and robbery that stretched from America to Europe and South Africa. His far reach and daring conquests of thievery amounted to millions of dollars over a three decade reign, earning him the unofficial title of "The Napoleon of Crime." His cleverness in planning, abhorrence of violence and ability to avoid capture instilled awe in the public and gained respect from law enforcement. Arthur Conan Doyle used Adam Worth as the inspiration for Professor Moriarty, the criminal mastermind and nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, and he now remains immortal in the realm of fiction. Worth's most daring act, the brazen theft of Thomas Gainsborough's portrait of "Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire" in 1876 is one of the most notorious in the realm of Art Crime. He kept the painting under his bed for 25 years after the theft, seemingly in love with the portrait, making it one of the only high-profile heists that wasn't solely perpetrated for profit.

In his 1997 book, The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief, Ben Macintyre provides a most thorough profile of the arch criminal. Starting with his enlistment in the Union Army in the Civil War, and subsequent faked death, Worth set forth on a long crime spree. Cultivated by his pickpocket apprenticeship to Marm Mandelbaum in New York City, Worth committed an enormous bank heist in Boston before fleeing to Europe under the alias Henry J. Raymond (a name he kept for the rest of his life). Much attention is given to Kitty Flynn, the Irish barmaid that would become his lover and life-long obsession (The Duchess of Devonshire portrait looks a lot like Kitty). Many crimes are profiled, from large-scale frauds and jewel heists to petty thefts and highway robbery. Great detail is offered in the account of the 1876 art theft of "The Duchess." Worth's relationship with William Pinkerton, once his pursuer and later his friend, is given pause… particularly in regard to Pinkerton's role in brokering the return of the stolen Gainsborough painting in 1901. J. Pierpont Morgan, the wealthy magnate whose obsession with "The Duchess" painting rivaled Worth's, is featured as well. Many of Worth's numerous criminal cohorts who came to him in search of schemes, including Charley Bullard and Max Shinburn alias "The Baron", have pages devoted to them as well. Ben Macintyre's writing style is engaging and artful, maintaining interest and painting an intriguing portrait of a notorious criminal. Deserving of praise, the tome is well worth the time spent reading it.