Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.89 (883 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0307461483 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-03-18 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
The rare Civil War battle flag carried into battle by one of the nation’s first African-American regiments. The breadth of Wittman’s exploits is unmatched: He traveled the world to rescue paintings by Rockwell and Rembrandt, Pissarro, Monet and Picasso, often working undercover overseas at the whim of foreign governments. He went undercover, usually unarmed, to catch art thieves, scammers, and black market traders in Paris and Philadelphia, Rio and Santa Fe, Miami and Madrid. In this page-turning memoir, Wittman fascinates with the stories behind his recoveries of priceless art and antiquities: The golden armor of an ancient Peruvian warrior king. The headdress Geronimo wore at his
"A fun, exciting read" according to C. W. Caspari Jr.. Very much a page-turner. Wittman's got a lot of great stories to tell about why we should appreciate art, how some government agencies have a warped sense of priorities and of course the fascinating ways in which some of the most infamous property crimes in history have played out and his role in them.There are suave characters, misfit gangsters and plot twists that can make you laugh or cry (depending on how much of an appreciation of art you may have - and if you don't have much of one, you will by the time you finish th. Who steals the world's greatest art? And who recovers it? Altho' the writing is fairly pedestrian, the book gives great insight into a world I knew almost nothing about. It's definitely worth reading for an inside look at the world of stolen art and its recovery.. Interesting and entertaining Very interesting profession. Well written very educational and insightful. Enjoyed this book a lot.
ROBERT K. He created and was senior investigator for the bureau’s Art Crime Team. He has won numerous writing awards and was a 2009 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.From the Hardcover edition.. Today, he is president of the international art security firm Robert Wittman Inc. JOHN SHIFFMANis an investigative reporter at The Philadelphia I
All rights reserved. From Publishers Weekly Former FBI agent Wittman, who created the agency's Art Crime Team and pursued a lifelong interest in antiques and collectibles, goes undercover to hobnob with infamous art thieves. A fatal car accident that Wittman was involved in early in his career shaped his perspective: "I understood that because someone made a mistake in judgment, it didn't make him evil. The ineffective, the stupid, the clever, and the dangerous; Wittman befriends them all, in order to betray them, a fact that causes him a certain amount of angst. . Among other challenges are bumbling agency bureaucrats and government turf wars when attempting to recover stolen art abroad. I never followed that rule." Keep the lies to a minimum, he advises, and avoid working in your home town. My newfound ability to see both sides of a situation-to think and feel like the accused-was invaluable." Wittma