A gentleman and a thief : the daring jewel heists of a Jazz Age rogue / Dean Jobb.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A captivating Jazz Age true-crime caper about "the greatest jewel thief who ever lived" ( Life Magazine ), Arthur Barry, who charmed everyone from Rockefellers to members of the royal family while simultaneously planning and executing the most audacious and lucrative heists of the 1920s.



"A master of narrative nonfiction. In this mesmerizing tale about a Jazz Age gentlemanly thief, Jobb has found his own perfect jewel."

―DAVID GRANN, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wager and Killers of the Flower Moon



"An enthrallingly propulsive, unpredictably twisty biography of one of the most fascinating criminals of the 20th Century. I was hooked from the very first heist."

―MICHAEL FINKEL, New York Times bestselling author of The Art Thief and The Stranger in the Woods



Catch Me If You Can meets The Great Gatsby meets the hit Netflix series Lupin in this captivating true-crime caper. A skilled con artist and perhaps one of the most charming, audacious burglars in history, Arthur Barry slipped in and out of the bedrooms of New York's wealthiest residents, even as his victims slept only inches away. He befriended luminaries such as the Prince of Wales and Harry Houdini and became a folk hero, touted in the press as "the greatest jewel thief who ever lived" and an "Aristocrat of Crime." In a span of seven years, Barry stole diamonds, pearls, and other gems worth almost $60 million today. Among his victims were a Rockefeller, an heiress to the Woolworth department store fortune, an oil magnate, Wall Street bigwigs, a top executive of automotive giant General Motors, and a famous polo player. Dean Jobb--hailed by Esquire magazine as "a master of narrative nonfiction"--once again delivers a stylishly told high-speed ride.



A Gentleman and a Thief is also a love story. Barry confessed to dozens of burglaries to protect his wife, Anna Blake (and was the prime suspect in scores of others). Sentenced to a twenty-five year term, he staged a dramatic prison break when Anna became seriously ill so they could be together for a few more years as fugitives. With dozens of historic images, A Gentleman and a Thief is page-turning, escapist, and sparkling with insight into our fascination with jewel heists and the suave, clever criminals who pull them off.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• A Note to Readers (XIII)
• Prologue: Prince Charming (1)
• I "A Grand Life"
• 1 The Courier (13)
• 2 A "Big-Timer" (22)
• 3 First-Aid Man (31)
• 4 The Long Watch (41)
• II The Ladder Burglar
• 5 Second-Story Man (49)
• 6 A Simple Assault (57)
• 7 All That Glitters (64)
• 8 Clients (70)
• 9 American Raffles (79)
• III Gentleman Thief
• 10 Cosden and Mountbatten (89)
• 11 The Plaza Pearls (98)
• 12 The Great Retriever (107)
• 13 Nightlife Plunger (115)
• 14 Anna Blake (128)
• IV Prince Of Thieves
• 15 A Scholarly Cop (143)
• 16 The Phantom (148)
• 17 "Well-Mannered Bandits" (154)
• 18 The Rockefeller Gems (162)
• 19 "That Slender Riotous Island" (166)
• 20 The Masterpiece (173)
• V The Reckoning
• 21 The Trap (185)
• 22 Owning Up (192)
• 23 Only High-Class Work (202)
• 24 Up the River (211)
• 25 Sing Sing (220)
• VI The Fugitive
• 26 Breakout (231)
• 27 Refuge (241)
• 28 Mr. and Mrs. Toner (247)
• 29 The Eaglet (256)
• VII A Most Dangerous Criminal
• 30 Lindbergh Suspect (267)
• 31 Celebrity Crook (274)
• 32 A Fair Trial (284)
• 33 "My Life of Love and Fear" (292)
• VIII Redemption
• 34 Hard Time (297)
• 35 "No Dice" (301)
• 36 "Easy Come, Easy Go" (308)
• 37 An Honest Man (313)
• Epilogue: Uncle Artie (321)
• Acknowledgments (329)
• Arthur Barry's Major Heists (332)
• Notes on Sources and Endnotes (335)
• Index (423)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Jobb follows up The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream with a top-shelf work of true crime focused on lovestruck "gentleman thief" Arthur Barry (1896--1981). A con artist since his teens, Barry returned to New York City after serving in WWI and used the city's Social Register to identify targets for a spate of jewel thefts from 1920 to 1927. During the same period that he was slipping in and out of second-story windows belonging to Manhattan's rich and famous, Barry met and fell in love with young widow Anna Blake. After the two were married, Blake began assisting Barry in his criminal activities. When authorities finally caught Barry in 1927, he confessed to several crimes Blake had committed in order to spare her jail time. While Barry was incarcerated, Blake was diagnosed with cancer, and he staged a prison riot to escape and be with her until she died. After his subsequent arrest, return to prison, and parole, Barry became a minor celebrity. Jobb tells Barry's tale with both rigor and pathos, painting a tender portrait of a crook who was never fearsome (one victim described him as "charming"). This is liable to steal readers' hearts. Agent: Hilary MacMahon, Westwood Creative Artists. (June)

Booklist Review

Jobb follows his spellbinding The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream (2021) with the true story of Arthur Barry (1896--1981). Though barely remembered today, in the 1920s, Barry was one of the world's most audacious and successful jewel thieves. He got an early start, committing his first robbery at 15, and before he was finally caught, he stole millions from some very high-profile people. He was a rascal and a charmer, a cad and the life of the party, and Jobb brings him vividly to life in this topflight true crime narrative. What sets Jobb apart is the way he approaches his subjects with perception and compassion. Barry might have been a criminal, but the author doesn't want us to see him as a bad guy; rather, he was a man with a special talent, and not unlike the wealthy people from whom he stole, proud, entitled, and secure in the belief that he deserved the riches he acquired. This belongs in every library's true crime section for every reader of this ever-growing genre.

Kirkus Book Review

An entertaining history of a criminal mastermind who, like most such geniuses, got caught in the end. Jobb, the author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream, lands quite the subject with Arthur Barry, an Irish kid who, hanging out in the streets of a gritty Massachusetts factory town, learned to mimic the manners of the upper crust and put his gift to advantage. He charmed his way into the inner circle of the British royal family, and after one quick job, he wandered away with the equivalent of $250,000 in precious gems. Barry, as Jobb deftly paints him, was a man of parts: a war hero who returned home to don debonair disguises and sneak into the soirees and homes of the very wealthy, but who, even though remembered by a socialite as "a rather gallant burglar," also was not above using violence to achieve his nefarious ends. Setting aside deadly force, a would-be jewel thief could learn a thing or two about the trade from reading Jobb's vivid account of Barry's career. Like any good tactician, Barry believed in endless planning and intelligent action. Would-be victims might learn, too, that it's rarely a good idea to appear with one's best jewels on the society page. Even though Barry's haul in the 1920s alone was $60 million in today's dollars, he frittered away much of that money. Reflecting on the fact that he'd also spent nearly two decades in prison, he also expressed regret to an interviewer. In listing his crimes, he said, "When you put down all those burglaries…be sure you put the big one at the top. Not Arthur Barry…robbed the cousin of the King of England, but just Arthur Barry robbed Arthur Barry." A rousing tale of true crime that elicits sympathy for both victims and perpetrator. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.