The Encyclopedia of Robberies, Heists, and Capers

Bandits, burglars, and thieves have always been a mainstay of society. From pickpockets to pirates, bank robbers to bushrangers, theft is one of the world's oldest criminal professions. This reference contains 400 entries detailing history's most famous robberies from around the world, the thieves who executed them, and the lawmen who brought them to justice. Topicals entries are featured, such as art theft, bungled capers, highway robbery, robberies in film and fiction, social bandits, safecracking, and robbery as terrorism. Cases covered include: Brink's robbery in Massachusetts, 1950; the "Great Train Robbery", 1963; the Lufthansa airline heist, 1978; the sacking of Panama city by pirates, 1671; and Wah Mee Club massacre in San Francisco's Chinatown, 1983. Biographies include the Barker Gang, Anne Bonny, John Dillinger, D.B. Cooper, Butch Cassidy, A.J. "Gentleman Jack" Davis, and J. Edgar Hoover.