Download or read book Flawless Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History written by Scott Andrew Selby and published by Sterling Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Tells the story with the gripping pace of a true-crime 'Ocean's Eleven.'" The New York Post • "Like a diamond, this true-life caper is clear, colorful, and brilliant." Publishers Weekly ★Starred Review★ The Antwerp Diamond Center was one of the most secure buildings in the world. With hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of diamonds stored in its subterranean vault, it had to be. Located in the heart of Belgium's ultra-secure Antwerp Diamond District, it benefited from two police stations, armed patrols, extensive video surveillance, and vehicle barriers securing an area where 80 percent of the world's diamonds traded hands. But on February 15, 2003, a band of skilled Italian thieves — fronted by the charming Leonardo Notarbartolo, who spent over two years clandestinely casing the building — subverted every one of the Diamond Center's defenses and made off with a record amount of loot. Experts estimate they got away with nearly half a billion dollars in diamonds, cash and other valuables. They'd pulled off the biggest heist in history--everybody loves diamonds and they now had more than any thief before them. The robbers did it with stealth and smarts; no one was hurt or even threatened during what was quickly labeled the largest diamond heist in history. The bandits — members of a group of professional thieves known as "The School of Turin" — used cunning in lieu of violence, successfully evading security cameras, thwarting an array of electronic sensors, and penetrating a vault protected by a double-locked foot-thick steel door. Even when the police zeroed in on who committed the crime, how it was done remained a mystery, like something out of a heist movie or TV show. Flawless is a fast-paced global scavenger hunt uncovering the truth behind the daring Valentine's Day weekend heist. Tracking clues, sources, and documents throughout Europe — from seedy cafés in Turin, Italy to sleek diamond offices in Antwerp, Belgium — authors Scott Selby and Greg Campbell retrace Notarbartolo's careful discovery of the building's security flaws. They recreate the heist and its aftermath — detailing how the thieves brilliantly neutralized each element of the security protecting the Diamond Center's vault while inviting the readers into the secretive world of diamonds and diamond dealing. The result is a thrilling ride through the better-than-fiction heist of the century. "Fans of caper books and movies will be in seventh heaven." Booklist ★Starred Review★

Download or read book Offbeat Revised Updated written by Julian Upton and published by SCB Distributors. This book was released on 2022-04-07 with total page 748 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For years there has been consensus about the merits of Britain’s ‘cult films’ — Peeping Tom, Witchfinder General, The Italian Job — but what of The Mark, Unearthly Stranger, The Strange Affair and The Squeeze? Revisionist critics wax lyrical over Get Carter and The Wicker Man, but what of Sitting Target, Quest for Love and The Black Panther? OFFBEAT redresses this imbalance by exploring Britain’s obscurities, curiosities and forgotten gems — from the buoyant leap in film production in the late fifties to the dying days of popular domestic cinema in the early eighties. Featuring essays, interviews and in-depth reviews, OFFBEAT provides an exhaustive, enlightening and entertaining guide through a host of neglected cinematic trends and episodes, including: • The last great British B-movies • ‘Anti-swinging sixties’ films • Sexploitation — from Yellow Teddy Bears to Emmanuelle in Soho • The British rock ‘n roll movie • CIA-funded British cartoons • Asylums in British cinema • The Children’s Film Foundation • The demise of the short as supporting feature • Val Guest, Sidney Hayers and the forgotten journeyman of British film • Swashbucklers, crime thrillers and other non-horror Hammers Now updated with more than 150 pages of new reviews and essays, featuring: • The Beatles in Colour! • The History of the AA Certificate • Ken Russell’s 1980s Films • Iris Murdoch’s A Severed Head • Curating Offbeat films in the Digital Age And much more!

Download or read book Dark Tide written by Stephen Puleo and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new 100th anniversary edition of the only adult book on one of the odder disasters in US history—and the greed, disregard for poor immigrants, and lack of safety standards that led to it. Around noon on January 15, 1919, a group of firefighters were playing cards in Boston’s North End when they heard a tremendous crash. It was like roaring surf, one of them said later. Like a runaway two-horse team smashing through a fence, said another. A third firefighter jumped up from his chair to look out a window—“Oh my God!” he shouted to the other men, “Run!” A 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses had just collapsed on Boston’s waterfront, disgorging its contents as a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that at its outset traveled at 35 miles an hour. It demolished wooden homes, even the brick fire station. The number of dead wasn’t known for days. It would be years before a landmark court battle determined who was responsible for the disaster.

Download or read book Offbeat Kentuckians written by Keven McQueen and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Offbeat Bride written by Ariel Meadow Stallings and published by Seal Press. This book was released on 2010-02-23 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previous ed. entitled: Offbeat bride: taffeta-free alternatives for independent brides, 2007.

Download or read book Quirky History written by Mini Menon and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2020-04-13 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eccentric maharajas and nawabs, bizarre believe it or not tales and hilarious twists and turns come together in this first book of the Quirky History series. From the Nizam who hid a priceless diamond in a shoe to the Swan Car of the Maharaja of Nabha to the Nawab of Junagadh who got his dog, Roshanara, married in brocades and pearls with over 700 guests in attendance and many more quirky, unusual stories.Get ready for history to pop right out of this book!'We need offbeat, quirky stories like the ones in this collection to make history come alive' - Ruskin Bond

Download or read book Tales of Forgotten Chicago written by Richard C Lindberg and published by Southern Illinois University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-28 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hidden gems from Chicago’s past Tales of Forgotten Chicago contains twenty-one fascinating, little-known stories about a great city and its people. Richard C. Lindberg has dug deeply to reveal lost historical events and hidden gems from Chicago’s past. Spanning the Civil War through the 1960s, the volume showcases forgotten crimes, punishments, and consequences: poisoned soup that nearly killed three hundred leading citizens, politicians, and business and religious leaders; a woman in showbiz and her street-thug husband whose checkered lives inspired a 1955 James Cagney movie; and the first police woman in Chicago, hired as a result of the senseless killing of a young factory girl in a racially tinged case of the 1880s. Also included are tales of industry and invention, such as America’s first automobile race, the haunting of a wealthy Gilded Age manufacturer’s mansion, and the identity of the telephone’s rightful inventor. Chapters on the history of early city landmarks spotlight the fight to save Lakefront Park and how “Lucky” Charlie Weeghman’s north side baseball park became Wrigley Field. Other chapters explore civic, cultural, and political happenings: the great Railroad Fairs of 1948 and 1949; Richard J. Daley’s revival of the St. Patrick’s Day parade; political disrupter Lar “America First” Daly; and the founding of the Special Olympics in Chicago by Anne Burke and others. Finally, some are just wonderful tales, such asa touching story about the sinking of Chicago's beloved Christmas tree ship. Engrossing and imaginative, this collection opens new windows into the past of the Windy City.

Download or read book Secret Seattle Seattle Walk Report written by Susanna Ryan and published by Sasquatch Books. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Capturing the same charm and whimsy she brought to Seattle Walk Report, Instagram darling Susanna Ryan takes things a step further, revealing the forgotten history behind the people, places, and things that shaped Seattle. Cartoonist and creator of Seattle Walk Report, Susanna Ryan strolls on with a quirky new illustrated guide celebrating Seattle's historical treasures and outdoor wonders. In Secret Seattle, Ryan explores the weird and wonderful hidden history behind some of the city's most overlooked places, architecture, and infrastructure, from coal chutes in Capitol Hill, to the last remainder of Seattle's original Chinatown in Pioneer Square, to the best places in town to find century-old sidewalks. Discover pocket parks, beautiful boulevards, and great public gardens while learning offbeat facts that will make you see the Emerald City in a whole new way. Perfect for both the local history buff who never leaves a favorite armchair to a walking enthusiast looking for offbeat and off-the-beaten-path scavenger hunts.

Download or read book Offbeat Museums written by Saul Rubin and published by Black Dog Publishing. This book was released on 1997 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collects details of some of the strangest museums and exhibits around the United States, providing a guided tour of places such as the Cockroach Hall of Fame, Spinning Top Exploratory Museum, and the Mini Cake Museum.

Download or read book To be a Roman written by Margaret A. Brucia and published by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each chapter in this workbook, designed for middle and high school-aged students, focuses on a particular topic. Several pages explain the topic in a lively and readable fashion and are then followed by objective exercises and suggestions for student projects and classroom discussions.

Download or read book Bizarre History written by Joe Rhatigan and published by Charlesbridge. This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is history served up high-octane, with all of the fun and none of the boredom. It's not about memorizing lists of dates or names, or remembering which general won what battle. Instead, BIZARRE HISTORY merrily digs up the scandals, the strangeness, and the scintillating details that illuminate personalities, events, and real life. Think of it not as a textbook, but as history?s juicy unauthorized biography--a historical document in which relevance never gets in the way of a good read. There are humorous quotes from famous figures such as Mark Twain and Napoleon ("History is a myth that men agree to believe"), as well as witty commentary about leaders of the past. After all, while you're probably familiar with William the Conquerer, have you heard of Charles the Simple, ruler of France and son of Louis the Stammerer? What about the emperor who entered Rome in a chariot drawn by 50 naked slaves?and invented the first whoopee cushion, too? But you can find lots of wildness closer to home: George Washington wrote love letters to a married woman; "Old Hickory" Andrew Jackson had been in at least seven duels before becoming president; and Benjamin Franklin fathered an illegitimate child. Paranoia also plagued a few of our presidents: the only thing Franklin Roosevelt had to fear was the number 13: he wouldn't invite 13 guests to a dinner party or travel on the 13th. And both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan had encounters with UFOs! The fun facts span the globe, covering the crazy acts of Caligula in the Roman Empire; the "Dog Shogun" in 17th century Japan; the "Pork and Beans" war between the US and Canada; and even details about fashion, medicine, sports, and the real Dracula. It's a wild journey that no one could resist!

Download or read book They Called Us River Rats written by Macon Fry and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They Called Us River Rats: The Last Batture Settlement of New Orleans is the previously untold story of perhaps the oldest outsider settlement in America, an invisible community on the annually flooded shores of the Mississippi River. This community exists in the place between the normal high and low water line of the Mississippi River, a zone known in Louisiana as the batture. For the better part of two centuries, batture dwellers such as Macon Fry have raised shantyboats on stilts, built water-adapted homes, foraged, fished, and survived using the skills a river teaches. Until now the stories of this way of life have existed only in the memories of those who have lived here. Beginning in 2000, Fry set about recording the stories of all the old batture dwellers he could find: maritime workers, willow furniture makers, fishermen, artists, and river shrimpers. Along the way, Fry uncovered fascinating tales of fortune tellers, faith healers, and wild bird trappers who defiantly lived on the river. They Called Us River Rats also explores the troubled relationship between people inside the levees, the often-reviled batture folks, and the river itself. It traces the struggle between batture folks and city authorities, the commercial interests that claimed the river, and Louisiana’s most powerful politicians. These conflicts have ended in legal battles, displacement, incarceration, and even lynching. Today Fry is among the senior generation of “River Rats” living in a vestigial colony of twelve “camps” on New Orleans’s river batture, a fragment of a settlement that once stretched nearly six miles and numbered hundreds of homes. It is the last riparian settlement on the Lower Mississippi and a contrarian, independent life outside urban zoning, planning, and flood protection. This book is for everyone who ever felt the pull of the Mississippi River or saw its towering levees and wondered who could live on the other side.

Download or read book Hidden History of Boston written by Dina Vargo and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2018-06-11 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quirky and little-known true stories of one of America’s most historic cities. Boston may play a big role in American history textbooks, but it also has quite a bit of forgotten past. For example, during the colonial era, riotous mobs celebrated their hatred of the pope in an annual celebration called Pope’s Night. In 1659, Christmas was made illegal, a ban by the Puritans that remained in effect for twenty-two years. William Monroe Trotter published the Boston Guardian, an independent African American newspaper, and was a beacon of civil rights activism at the turn of the century. And in more recent times, a centuries-long turf war played out on the streets of quiet Chinatown, ending in the massacre of five men in a back alley in 1991. Author and historian Dina Vargo shines a light into the cobwebbed corners of Boston’s hidden history in this riveting read, complete with illustrations.

Download or read book Strange History written by Editors of Portable Press and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-06-01 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bizarre historical tidbits about quirky queens, hippopotamus soup, shrunken heads, and much more! This exciting title from the folks at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute contains the strangest short history articles from over thirty Bathroom Readers, along with fifty all-new pages. From the twentieth century to the Old West, from the Age of Enlightenment to the Dark Ages, from ancient cultures all the way back to the dawn of time, Strange History is overflowing with mysterious artifacts, macabre legends, kooky inventions, reality-challenged rulers, boneheaded blunders, and mind-blowing facts. Whether it’s B.C. or A.D., you’ll be wondering WTF! Read about . . . The curse of Macbeth Stupid history: Hollywood style The secret LSD experiments of the 1960s In search of the lost “Cloud People” of Peru The Swedish queen who declared war on fleas Unearthing the past with the Outhouse Detectives The Apollo astronaut who swears he saw a UFO How to brew a batch of 5,000-year-old beer The brutal bloodbaths at Rome’s Coliseum Ghostly soup from ancient China The bathroom of the 1970s And much, much more!

Download or read book The Ice Hunters written by Shannon Ryan and published by Breakwater Books. This book was released on 1994 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The demand for oil to light and lubricate the industrial world changed the face of much of the planet. Newfoundland was part of this widespread transformation as migratory cod fishermen settled here in the early 1800s in order to hunt seals in late winter and early spring. The seal fishery brought prosperity and growth and shaped this new society, but seal hunters and their families paid a heavy human cost in lives lost and suffering experienced. The traditional oil industries were doomed with the discovery of mineral oils and the ha essing of electricity, and Newfoundland-along with other societies-faced painful adjustments while searching for alte ative industries. However while its place in the economy declined, the seal fishery left an indelible imprint on Newfoundland's culture and identity. This study, with its tables, maps and illustrations, examines the history of the Newfoundland seal fishery from its origins up to 1914, ranging in scope from the life of the hunter on the ice flows to the demands of the consumer in the market place. Shannon Ryan was bo in riverhead, Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, and educated at Memorial University of Newfoundland (BA Ed, BA, and MA) and the University of London (PH). He worked for nine years as a schoolteacher and principal and in 1971 he was appointed to the faculty of History. His publications and presentations are in the fields of Newfoundland, Maritime, fisheries and oral history. He served as president of the Newfoundland Historical society during 1984-1988, as Newfoundland's representative on the Social sciences and humanities research council of Canada during 1989-1993 and was elected a fellow of the Royal society in 1988.

Download or read book Odd and Eccentric People Library of Curious and Unusual Facts written by Time-Life and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The House in the Woods written by Zoe Miller and published by Hachette Books Ireland. This book was released on 2021-10-14 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Shimmers with suspense and intrigue from the very first page ... If you enjoy novels by Adele Parks, Clare Mackintosh and Lisa Jewell, this book is for you' Sunday Independent 'Packed with memorable and superbly drawn characters, this engaging mystery copperfastens Zoe Miller's mastery of the art of sinuous plotting' Irish Independent When actress Evie Lawrence is injured in a shocking hit-and-run accident, she wants nothing more than to retreat to her woodland home in Wicklow to recover. But when she's forced to admit that she needs help, she reluctantly opens up her solitary life to allow her grand-niece Amber, practically a stranger, to move into Heronbrook to take care of her. Evie, who has been estranged from her sister's family for many years, vows to keep Amber at a distance so her secrets - and the truth of what happened at Heronbrook years ago - stay buried. Amber is initially preoccupied with the recent implosion of both her career and her love life, the details of which she's keeping to herself, but soon becomes very curious about the rift in her family. And when unsettling incidents begin to make Evie's secluded home feel less peaceful and more dangerously isolated, Amber starts to suspect that what happened to Evie wasn't an accident at all - and the person responsible still has Evie in their sights. But can Amber persuade Evie to confront the past and get to the truth before it's too late?