The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, the Real Moriarty

The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, the Real Moriarty
Ben Macintyre

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, 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.Note that it has not been possible to include the same picture content that appeared in the original print version.

The Napoleon of Crime

The Life and Times of Adam Worth, the Real Moriarty

Ben Macintyre

Copyright (#ulink_925507b0-4999-5eea-b8cc-2ebc2105ce82)

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

Copyright © Ben Macintyre 1997

Ben Macintyre asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780006550624

Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2012 ISBN: 9780007383641

Version: 2017-02-20

(#u1eacf778-7c04-5a35-ab6c-3cd8c982feb3)FOR KATE

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#u6dbd4b93-6772-55dc-b775-fa214fcba14b)

Title Page (#u071f6d82-8054-54b1-a715-c041805a32d8)

Copyright (#u9f5fe0e1-7b83-5e68-9795-82a8f7c1db20)

Dedication (#u58a54c7f-230c-5fec-affc-b5756b3187df)

Preface (#u63dcef5a-66de-5a9f-ae3d-b586f89f5620)

The Elopement (#u67ffa931-bd0a-502b-b9ce-72d8d02f7309)

A Fine War (#u53303515-22bb-529f-8f27-846a9eaa6ff7)

The Manhattan Mob (#u3b0620b5-c9d2-5065-9a88-f3715fb45cfa)

The Professionals (#u33a06b19-3ec2-52d8-8288-e7bae7b7c282)

The Robbers’ Bride (#u7360fd56-2b01-58d1-b2d7-80eb81ea6c8d)

An American Bar in Paris (#ubfb08928-01bd-5c96-9de9-418877f01268)

The Duchess (#uc63445cc-e1b8-51ce-9198-8e9238e12a9c)

Dr Jekyll and Mr Worth (#u37add81e-390a-5a6e-8055-27979a01181c)

Cold Turkey (#litres_trial_promo)

A Great Lady Holds a Reception (#litres_trial_promo)

A Courtship and a Kidnapping (#litres_trial_promo)

A Wanted Woman (#litres_trial_promo)

My Fair Lady (#litres_trial_promo)

Kitty Flynn, Society Queen (#litres_trial_promo)

Dishonour Among Thieves (#litres_trial_promo)

Rough Diamonds (#litres_trial_promo)

A Silk Glove Man (#litres_trial_promo)

Bootless Footpads (#litres_trial_promo)

Worth’s Waterloo (#litres_trial_promo)

The Trial (#litres_trial_promo)

Gentleman in Chains (#litres_trial_promo)

Le Brigand International (#litres_trial_promo)

Alias Moriarty (#litres_trial_promo)

Atonement (#litres_trial_promo)

Moriarty Confesses to Holmes (#litres_trial_promo)

The Bellboy’s Burden (#litres_trial_promo)