Train Robbers — Piers Paul Read

This is a gripping look at Britain's great train robbery. One night in August, 1963, robbers stopped a freight/mail train north of London and grabbed a then-record 2.6 million British pounds - worth over $40 million pounds ($60 million dollars) at this writing. The author begins by looking at the robbers, most of whom belonged to gangs of professional thieves. These crooks were adept at burglary, theft, and bribing corrupt officials. The author shows the robbers' extensive planning for the crime, gaining vital information from both the library and unwitting rail officials. Then we read of the precisely-executed robbery, which left the train skipper injured. Reacting quickly, Scotland Yard assigned over 100 officers to the case, and soon discovering the hideout and evidence at Leathersdale Farm. Most of the robbers were soon rounded up, but a couple fled to France, Mexico, Canada, and eventually Brazil. The trial was among the most famous in British history, described here along with its aftermath. Finally, the author examines the rumor that the robbers were financed by ex-Nazi commander Otto Skorzeny and the brotherhood of ex-SS officers called Odessa.

Author Piers Pual Read (b. 1941) uses nicely readable prose to keep the pages turning. Mr. Read wrote the book in 1978, shortly after he was contacted by an agent for the conspirators. Readers should enjoy this book, as well as ALIVE, the author's superb account of the survivors' ordeal following a plane crash in the Andes Mountains of South America in 1972.