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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
informative
slow-paced
The Source material (life of Adam Worth) seems really fascinating but my god did the author add a lot of wildly speculative and/or aggravating opinions disguised as fact that had no source whatsoever (he cared to cite at least). Book should have been half the length and it might have even been good.
adventurous
funny
informative
medium-paced
It took me a LONG time to get through this book, but it wasn't because I wasn't enjoying it. I picked this up after hearing the "Stuff You Missed in History Class" podcast about Adam Worth, and I've read other books by Macintyre I very much liked. The primary source for information about Worth was from William Pinkerton, who formed an odd sort of friendship with Worth, based on mutual respect for their abilities. Worth was smart, and pulled off some of the most notorious robberies of the Victorian era, from New York to London to Paris. He was most infamous for the theft of Gainsborough's portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire, which he carried around with him for decades. Worth was a strange character, who inspired Doyle to create his fictional counterpart, Professor Moriarity, as a suitable nemesis for Sherlock Holmes. Fascinating biography.
The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief by Ben Macintyre is an engrossing and well-researched account of a man who, while little more than a footnote in history today, had taken the Victorian world by storm and left his thieving mark from New York City to London to Paris to the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. The touch of dramatic flair in Macintyre’s writing only lends credence to Worth’s sensational life, and honestly, I was a fan!
Macintyre opens this biography by telling the reader how research for an unassociated article he’d been writing for the Times brought him to Los Angeles. With the intention of wasting an afternoon, he visited the archives of none other than the Pinkerton Detective Agency—as in Allan Pinkerton and the Civil War. There, among the newspaper clippings, rogues gallery images, and correspondence belonging to William and Robert Pinkerton, the sons of the founder, Macintyre says he came across a portion of an article from 1902 regarding Adam Worth, and realized this was a story to be told.
Adam Worth came to America in the nineteenth century as a young, poor immigrant, his family looking for a prosperous future—an origin story told time and again by millions. But regular, and often menial jobs, weren’t getting Worth the riches he always envisioned, so his first serious foray into crime occurred during the Civil War, where Worth went from a model soldier to a bounty collector: enlisting in the army, collecting the initial payment, then deserting. And it’s funny, looking back on this period, to see that Worth was involved with Union Army crime at the same time Allan Pinkerton was making a name for himself within the Union, only to be chased by Pinkerton’s sons in both the Chicago and New York offices for nearly the rest of his life.
Macintyre does an excellent job covering the various personalities involved in Worth’s enterprise over the years—infamous names like Sophie Lyons and Marm Mandelbaum—as well as Max Shinburn, Piano Charley, Kitty Flynn—but most especially, he details the relationship that grew between Worth and William Pinkerton and the respect that lawman and career thief had for each other. Macintyre also covers Worth’s family life: the heartbreak over losing his love interests, the ire felt toward his brother and sister-in-law, the later-in-life devotion to his children, as well as, arguably, Worth’s biggest and grandest theft: the stolen portrait of the Dutchess of Devonshire and the chaos that ensued across multiple continents because of it.
Macintyre shines light on one of the most notorious men from the Victorian period. Worth’s desire for riches was all-consuming, his ability to organize and oversee jobs conducted by others was masterful and unparalleled, and he did this while preaching that weapons were not necessary—that a skilled thief needed no gun—and Worth, a veteran of the Civil War, lived by those words. A fantastic read that effortlessly brings history to life!
Macintyre opens this biography by telling the reader how research for an unassociated article he’d been writing for the Times brought him to Los Angeles. With the intention of wasting an afternoon, he visited the archives of none other than the Pinkerton Detective Agency—as in Allan Pinkerton and the Civil War. There, among the newspaper clippings, rogues gallery images, and correspondence belonging to William and Robert Pinkerton, the sons of the founder, Macintyre says he came across a portion of an article from 1902 regarding Adam Worth, and realized this was a story to be told.
Adam Worth came to America in the nineteenth century as a young, poor immigrant, his family looking for a prosperous future—an origin story told time and again by millions. But regular, and often menial jobs, weren’t getting Worth the riches he always envisioned, so his first serious foray into crime occurred during the Civil War, where Worth went from a model soldier to a bounty collector: enlisting in the army, collecting the initial payment, then deserting. And it’s funny, looking back on this period, to see that Worth was involved with Union Army crime at the same time Allan Pinkerton was making a name for himself within the Union, only to be chased by Pinkerton’s sons in both the Chicago and New York offices for nearly the rest of his life.
Macintyre does an excellent job covering the various personalities involved in Worth’s enterprise over the years—infamous names like Sophie Lyons and Marm Mandelbaum—as well as Max Shinburn, Piano Charley, Kitty Flynn—but most especially, he details the relationship that grew between Worth and William Pinkerton and the respect that lawman and career thief had for each other. Macintyre also covers Worth’s family life: the heartbreak over losing his love interests, the ire felt toward his brother and sister-in-law, the later-in-life devotion to his children, as well as, arguably, Worth’s biggest and grandest theft: the stolen portrait of the Dutchess of Devonshire and the chaos that ensued across multiple continents because of it.
Macintyre shines light on one of the most notorious men from the Victorian period. Worth’s desire for riches was all-consuming, his ability to organize and oversee jobs conducted by others was masterful and unparalleled, and he did this while preaching that weapons were not necessary—that a skilled thief needed no gun—and Worth, a veteran of the Civil War, lived by those words. A fantastic read that effortlessly brings history to life!
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
THE REAL LIFE LOCKE LAMORA.
It was very cool to read how Doyle modeled Moriarty after Adam Worth.
Underlying the whole is the theme that crime doesn’t pay. Yes, Worth was able to amass wealth and position but it was constantly in jeopardy and eventually all fell away entirely. It also ruined his relationship with his children and wife. Just because the world glamorizes sin and rogueish behavior doesn’t mean that’s worthy of emulation.
5/5 stars
PG to PG-13 idk.
It was very cool to read how Doyle modeled Moriarty after Adam Worth.
Underlying the whole is the theme that crime doesn’t pay. Yes, Worth was able to amass wealth and position but it was constantly in jeopardy and eventually all fell away entirely. It also ruined his relationship with his children and wife. Just because the world glamorizes sin and rogueish behavior doesn’t mean that’s worthy of emulation.
5/5 stars
PG to PG-13 idk.
A fascinating, well-written story. Due to the limitations of Macintyre's sources, parts of Worth's life are unfortunately elusive and/or threadbare (successful criminals not being known for keeping exhaustive archival records of their misdeeds). This means that the book is inherently unbalanced, with far more source material from the period in which Worth finally failed and came into the grasp of the law, than from the years he was at his zenith.
Despite this unavoidable disappointment, Macintyre makes the most of what records are available to him, and uses them very well. Pinkerton records are foremost (unsurprisingly, given that the genesis of the book project came in their archives), but there's also a fair helping of reformed-criminal Sophie Lyons' memoirs, as well as a host of other documents.
The chapter on Worth's relationship to Conan Doyle's Moriarty was rather shorter than I anticipated, and more than once felt like it was stretching a little, but was nonetheless interesting.
Finally, I left this book more than half in love with Kitty Flynn, and I wholeheartedly want a book and/or movie about this ambitious, beautiful, canny Irish adventuress. She sounds amazing.
Despite this unavoidable disappointment, Macintyre makes the most of what records are available to him, and uses them very well. Pinkerton records are foremost (unsurprisingly, given that the genesis of the book project came in their archives), but there's also a fair helping of reformed-criminal Sophie Lyons' memoirs, as well as a host of other documents.
The chapter on Worth's relationship to Conan Doyle's Moriarty was rather shorter than I anticipated, and more than once felt like it was stretching a little, but was nonetheless interesting.
Finally, I left this book more than half in love with Kitty Flynn, and I wholeheartedly want a book and/or movie about this ambitious, beautiful, canny Irish adventuress. She sounds amazing.