In 1981, Detective Inspector Satchwell was the officer in charge of the case against Train Robber Tom Wisbey and twenty others. The case involved massive thefts from mail trains – similar to the Great Train Robbery of 1963 where £2.6 million was taken and only £400,000 ever recovered. Thirty years later their paths crossed again and an unlikely partnership was formed, with the aim of revealing the truth about the Great Train Robbery. This book reassesses the known facts about one of the most infamous crimes in modern history from the uniquely qualified insight of an experienced railway detective, presenting new theories alongside compelling evidence and correcting the widely accepted lies and half-truths surrounding this story.
'It wasn't only Britain's biggest heist, it became the bloodiest' Mail on Sunday The inside story of the 20th century's most lucrative armed robbery. On 26 November 1983 six armed robbers escaped with £28 million worth of gold bullion from a Brink's-Mat warehouse at London's Heathrow Airport. The Curse of Brink's-Mat reveals the pulse-racing full story of the crime itself before moving to its chilling aftermath, which still reverberates to this day. The heist made the careers of many of the underworld's biggest names, and changed the face of British crime forever but in the years that followed the robbery, many of those involved, innocent and guilty alike have been sent to an early grave. Two decades on, the death toll is still rising. Nobody knows more about that extraordinary morning's events than Wensley Clarkson, whose early career was spent as a reporter for Britain's biggest-selling newspapers, providing him with a wealth of insider contacts. From small-time crime in south-east London, to 'the heist of the century' and its bloody consequences, Wensley Clarkson's The Curse of Brink's-Mat is an epic tale of villainy, gold and revenge.
Ronnie Biggs: The Inside Story, written by two of Ronnie Biggs's closest friends and most ardent supporters, delivers exactly what it says on the label, giving a very personal, unique and yet disturbing insight into the mind and subsequent treatment by the judicial and penal systems of the man that became a legendary household name for his role in one of Britain's most notorious crimes, the Great Train Robbery of 1963, and his subsequent life on the run upon his escape from prison in 1965. Raising pointed questions and dispelling many myths, the story makes one wonder who is the greater criminal: the carpenter that played a bit part in an unarmed robbery 45 years ago, who has remained incarcerated since his return to the UK in 2001 despite the fact that he is now a frail, wheelchair-bound 79-year-old grandfather who is no threat to society, is fed via a tube to his stomach and can only communicate by pointing to letters on a laminated sheet; or the justice and prison systems that have allowed him to rot in jail for so long. One thing’s for sure, although Ronnie Biggs’s body is letting him down after a series of strokes and other illnesses, his legal team, campaign supporters, underworld friends and devoted family certainly aren’t, and neither is his own fighting spirit or his humanity in the face of inhumanity. All he wants now is to be able to die a free man rather than suffer “a slow crucifixion on the Home Office cross”, and once all the facts have been digested one can only be moved to ask: “How could anyone deny him that?”
Within the space of three days, two men are found brutally murdered. Their only connection is that they were both involved in the same cricket match. But the complete lack of evidence left at both crime scenes leaves Detective Inspector Steve Hardcastle in a quandary. Is he searching for one killer or two? The few lines of enquiry he and his team are able to follow up quickly lead them down a succession of blind alleys and Hardcastle comes under increasing pressure from his senior officers to make an arrest. And when a third man who was also involved in the match suddenly disappears without a trace, Hardcastle knows that it is only a matter of time before he is taken off the case. With his career prospects disappearing with each dead end, he is left with just one last throw of the dice.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Jurassic Park comes classic historical thriller about Victorian London’s most notorious gold heist. London, 1855, when lavish wealth and appalling poverty exist side by side, one mysterious man navigates both worlds with perfect ease. Edward Pierce preys on the most prominent of the well-to-do as he cunningly orchestrates the crime of his century. Who would suspect that a gentleman of breeding could mastermind the extraordinary robbery aboard the pride of England’s industrial era, the mighty steam locomotive? Based on fact, but studded with all the suspense and style of fiction, here is a classic historical thriller, set a decade before the age of dynamite—yet nonetheless explosive…
The events of May 24, 1865 in Lincoln County, Ga., spawned a legend that has taken on a life of its own. A wagon train loaded with nearly a half million dollars in gold coins is robbed in the middle of the night, apparently by Confederate veterans, who believe the stash to be the remnants of their failed government's treasury. The hunt for the thieves and their loot is an adventure of its own, but a Union general's use of torture on a prominent family only serves to inflame the local population and to heat up already volatile tempers. GRABALL ROAD is the true story behind the "Legend of the Confederate Gold." Decide for yourself whether a pot of Confederate gold lies buried somewhere deep in this river valley.
Blendin Blandin is searching for the legendary Time Pirates' Treasure, and he needs Dipper and Mabel's help . . . and yours, too! Journey through time and explore the dragon-infested medieval era, the Weird-and-Wild West, and the laser-and-giant-baby-filled future. YOU choose from multiple paths that lead to different wacky adventures! You might end up finding the greatest treasure ever known, or you could send the twins and Blendin into an abyss from which they will never escape! This all-new Select Your Own Choose-Venture time-travel treasure hunt book features thrilling adventures, original artwork, and an exclusive double-sided poster! The book's author, Jeffrey Rowe, wrote episodes of Gravity Falls; Alex Hirsch, the creator of the show, provided additional story for the book; and the book's illustrator, Emmy Cicierega, was a storyboard artist for the show.
On the 8th August 1963 a gang of 15 men stopped a mail train in Buckinghamshire and proceeded to steal sacks of money worth £2.6 million. It was the biggest heist ever carried out in the UK and frontpage news around the world. The mastermind behind this most audacious crime of the twentieth century was Bruce Reynolds. Perhaps the last of the 'gentlemen villains'; Reynolds epitomised that particular breed of sharply dressed, post-war criminals who mixed with royalty and movie stars, and never carried a gun. They thrived on adventure and glamour, and the Great Train Robbery was their last ride. From his childhood and early forays into crime, to planning the robbery and his life on the run, and finally his capture, prison years and growing old with the gang - this is a true crime classic. Widely regarded as a one of the finest memoirs of a life of crime, Autobiography of a Thief is essential listening for anyone interested in true crime. Narrated by his son, Nick Reynolds, who grew up on the run with his father.
A middle-grade fantasy and nonstop adventure, The Train to Impossible Places by debut author P. G. Bell is as fun as it is full of heart, and the first book of a trilogy. A train that travels through impossible places. A boy trapped in a snow globe. And a girl who’s about to go on the adventure of a lifetime. The Impossible Postal Express is no ordinary train. It’s a troll-operated delivery service that runs everywhere from ocean-bottom shipwrecks, to Trollville, to space. But when this impossible train comes roaring through Suzy’s living room, her world turns upside down. After sneaking on board, Suzy suddenly finds herself Deputy Post Master aboard the train, and faced with her first delivery—to the evil Lady Crepuscula. Then, the package itself begs Suzy not to deliver him. A talking snow globe, Frederick has information Crepuscula could use to take over the entire Union of Impossible Places. But when protecting Frederick means putting her friends in danger, Suzy has to make a difficult choice—with the fate of the entire Union at stake.