Author: Robert K. Wittman File Type: epub The Wall Street Journal called him a living legend. The London Times dubbed him the most famous art detective in the world. In Priceless, Robert K. Wittman, the founder of the FBIs Art Crime Team, pulls back the curtain on his remarkable career for the first time, offering a real-life international thriller to rival The Thomas Crown Affair. Rising from humble roots as the son of an antique dealer, Wittman built a twenty-year career that was nothing short of extraordinary. He went undercover, usually unarmed, to catch art thieves, scammers, and black market traders in Paris and Philadelphia, Rio and Santa Fe, Miami and Madrid. In this page-turning memoir, Wittman fascinates with the stories behind his recoveries of priceless art and antiquities The golden armor of an ancient Peruvian warrior king. The Rodin sculpture that inspired the Impressionist movement. The headdress Geronimo wore at his final Pow-Wow. The rare Civil War battle flag carried into battle by one of the nations first African-American regiments. The breadth of Wittmans exploits is unmatched He traveled the world to rescue paintings by Rockwell and Rembrandt, Pissarro, Monet and Picasso, often working undercover overseas at the whim of foreign governments. Closer to home, he recovered an original copy of the Bill of Rights and cracked the scam that rocked the PBS series Antiques Roadshow. By the FBIs accounting, Wittman saved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art and antiquities. He says the statistic isnt important. After all, whos to say what is worth more --a Rembrandt self-portrait or an American flag carried into battle? Theyre 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 Washingtons hair just wanted to make a few extra bucks, figuring no one would miss what hed 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. From the Hardcover edition.**From Publishers WeeklyFormer FBI agent Wittman, who created the agencys Art Crime Team and pursued a lifelong interest in antiques and collectibles, goes undercover to hobnob with infamous art thieves. 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. 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 didnt make him evil. 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 FBIs strict undercover rules, youre only supposed to work one case at a time. I never followed that rule. Keep the lies to a minimum, he advises, and avoid working in your home town. Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. ReviewAlmost every case he recounts has enough intrigue and suspense for a Hollywood screenplay.--The Washington Post Genius... Riveting.... Should be a TV series.--Los Angeles Times A rollicking memoir... investigative details dazzle... PRICELESS can read at times, not unpleasantly, as if an art history textbook got mixed up at the printer with a screenplay for THE WIRE.--The New York Times Riveting... superbly crafted... absolutely, hands down the best book ever written on art crime.--Associated Press I cant think of a better title for a book than this one, PRICELESS. Because this non-fiction story is priceless, a spellbinding narrative of an FBI agents journey into the crazy murk of what is perhaps the most fascinating criminal activity of all, high-stakes art theft into the millions upon millions.--Buzz Bissinger, New York Times bestselling author of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS and coauthor of SHOOTING STARS Entertaining...crime buffs will receive a painless education while they enjoy a lively account of art thieves and the man who pursued them.--Kirkus Reviews Wittmans memoir, PRICELESS, is a fast-paced, gripping narrative of stolen national treasures and those who traffic in them. An undercover lawman armed with wit and adrenalin, Wittman exposes the darkest corners of the art world and brings to justice the dangerous criminals who lurk there.--Laney Salisbury, co-author of PROVENANCE HOW A CON MAN AND A FORGER REWROTE THE HISTORY OF MODERN ART In one riveting sequence after another, Robert Wittman reveals the art worlds underbelly as it has never been seen, through the eyes of an undercover agent whose investigative acumen is matched only by his art-history chops. A true page-turner.--Benjamin Wallace, New York Times bestseller author of THE BILLIONAIRES VINEGAR With suspense, intrigue, and candor, FBI agent R...

Author: Donald S. Lopez Jr. File Type: pdf The Tibetan Book of the Dead is the most famous Buddhist text in the West, having sold more than a million copies since it was first published in English in 1927. Carl Jung wrote a commentary on it, Timothy Leary redesigned it as a guidebook for an acid trip, and the Beatles quoted Learys version in their song Tomorrow Never Knows. More recently, the book has been adopted by the hospice movement, enshrined by Penguin Classics, and made into an audiobook read by Richard Gere. Yet, as acclaimed writer and scholar of Buddhism Donald Lopez writes, The Tibetan Book of the Dead is not really Tibetan, it is not really a book, and it is not really about death. In this compelling introduction and short history, Lopez tells the strange story of how a relatively obscure and malleable collection of Buddhist texts of uncertain origin came to be so revered--and so misunderstood--in the West.The central character in this story is Walter Evans-Wentz (1878-1965), an eccentric scholar and spiritual seeker from Trenton, New Jersey, who, despite not knowing the Tibetan language and never visiting the country, crafted and named The Tibetan Book of the Dead. In fact, Lopez argues, Evans-Wentzs book is much more American than Tibetan, owing a greater debt to Theosophy and Madame Blavatsky than to the lamas of the Land of Snows. Indeed, Lopez suggests that the books perennial appeal stems not only from its origins in magical and mysterious Tibet, but also from the way Evans-Wentz translated the text into the language of a very American spirituality.**

Author: Adam Przeworski File Type: pdf What can we learn about democracy from the experience of post-Soviet Russia? What can we learn about the prospects for democracy in Russia from the experience of really existing democracies? Must some pre-requisites, cultural or material, be fulfilled for democracy to become possible? This book examines the current state of Russia and the prospects for democracy, posing several challenges to our understanding of democracy. Thirteen contributors expand the debate over these questions, offering a variety of insights, interpretations, and conclusions vital to understanding the conditions of emergence and survival of successful democracies.**

Author: Ann Pettifor File Type: pdf