Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
The Napolean of Crime : The Life and Times of Adam Worth, the Real Moriarty - Ben Macintyre

The Napolean of Crime

The Life and Times of Adam Worth, the Real Moriarty

By: Ben Macintyre

Paperback | 15 June 1998

At a Glance

Paperback


$29.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $7.50 with

In Stock and Ships in 1-2 business days

The rumbustious true story of the Victorian master thief who was the model for Conan Doyle's Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' arch-rival. From the bestselling author of 'Operation Mincemeat' and 'Agent Zigzag'.


Adam Worth was the greatest master criminal of Victorian times. Abjuring violence and setting himself up as a perfectly respectable gentleman, he became the ringleader for the largest criminal network in the world and the model for Conan Doyle's evil genius, Moriarty.

At the height of his powers, he stole Gainsborough's famous portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, then the world's most valuable painting, from its London showroom. The duchess became his constant companion, the symbol and substance of his achievements. At the end of his career, he returned the painting, having gained nothing material from its theft.

Worth's Sherlock Holmes was William Pinkerton, founder of America's first and greatest detective agency. Their parallel lives form the basis for this extraordinary book, which opens a window on the seedy Victorian underworld, wittily exposing society's hypocrisy and double standards in a storytelling tour de force.

Industry Reviews
'A good deal more thrilling than most thrillers' Ruth Rendell, Daily Telegraph '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.' Alexander Waugh, Independent on Sunday

More in Historical, Political and Military Biographies

100 Diaries That Chronicled World Events - Colin Salter

RRP $44.99

$35.75

21%
OFF
On My Watch : Leading NATO in a Time of War - Jens Stoltenberg

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
The Look : The No1 New York Times bestseller - Michelle Obama

RRP $69.99

$52.25

25%
OFF
Midnight : The story of a Light horse - Mark Greenwood

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Ten Doors Down : The story of an extraordinary adoption reunion - Robert Tickner
A Sense of Balance - John Howard

RRP $32.99

$26.99

18%
OFF
Fly, Wild Swans : My Mother, Myself and China - Jung Chang

RRP $37.99

$30.75

19%
OFF
PATRIOT - Alexei Navalny

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Winston and the Windsors : How Churchill Shaped a Royal Dynasty - Andrew Morton
Freedom : Memoirs 1954 - 2021 - Angela Merkel

RRP $34.99

$32.75

The Journals of Captain Cook : Penguin Classics - James Cook

RRP $27.99

$23.75

15%
OFF
Ned Kelly : The Story of Australia's Most Notorious Legend - Peter FitzSimons
Jane Austen at Home : A Biography - Lucy Worsley (

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF