Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.93 (763 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0307461475 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-03-23 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
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. . Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. My newfound ability to see both sides of a situation-to think and feel like the accused-was invaluable." Wittman keeps the narrative interesting, and reveals himself as something of a renegade: "Under the FBI's strict
"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, mis. 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 Julie M Very interesting profession. Well written very educational and insightful. Enjoyed this book a lot.
After all, who’s to say what is worth more --a Rembrandt self-portrait or an American flag carried into battle? They're both priceless. The art thieves and scammers Wittman caught run the gamut from rich to poor, smart to foolish, organized criminals to desperate loners. The smuggler who brought him a looted 6th-century treasure turned out to be a high-ranking diplomat. The appraiser who stole countless heirlooms from war heroes’ descendants was a slick, aristocratic con man. The museum janitor who made off with locks of George Washington's hair just wanted to make a few extra bucks, figuring no one would miss what he’d filched. In his final case, Wittman called on every bit of knowledge and experience in his arsenal to take on his greatest challenge: working undercover to track the vicious criminals behind what might be the most audacious art theft of all. . He says the statistic isn’t important. The headdress Geronimo wore at his final Pow-Wow. The Rodin sculpture that inspired the Impressionist movement. T
ROBERT K. Today, he is president of the international art security firm Robert Wittman Inc. JOHN SHIFFMANis an investigative reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer. He created and was senior investigator for the bureau’s Art Crime Team. . He has won numerous writing awards and was a 2009 finalist