topics: |  fiction | history | crime

Dramatized version of the 1855 robbery, enlivened by sharp underworld slang.
Edward Pierce, the romantic gentleman-criminal, plans
the "impossible" robbery of gold bullion from  the train going from
London to Paris.  He befriends railwaymen and bankers, beguiles women,
learns to breed dogs for prize fights, and works with his underworld
cronies to pull of one of the biggest heists in history...

The story follows the real train robbery (1855) quite closely.  Unlike the real
William Pierce, who was sentenced to two years in prison, the fictional
Pierce is shown as escaping.

Excerpts

Lord Cardigan, who had led the foolhardy charge of the light brigade and also
bungled the Balaclava campaign, returned in Jan 1855 to much adulation from
the press.  Hairs from his horse were picked for souvenirs.  The woolen
jacket he had worn in the Crimea were copied and thousands of "cardigan"s
were sold.  [He was known to his troops as "dangerous ass".] p.141

Crystal palace - for the Great Exhibition of 1851 - original plan - brick
monstrosity 4x westminster abbey and dome > st paul's - called for 19mn
bricks - not enough time to make it.  Also opposition to destruction of trees

Joseph Paxton - gardener to Duke of Devonshire - came up with the idea of
erecting a large greenhouse - original plan, drawn up on a piece of blotting
paper - accepted.  Also saved the trees - however, the trees contained
sparrows, which were not housebroken.  Finally the Queen was consulted and
she said, "Send for the Duke of Wellington."  The duke said: "Try sparrow
hawks, Ma'am."  And finally the problem was solved. 159

 in its grand magnificence, the new Crystal Palace again displayed the
genius of its creator, Joseph Paxton, who was knighted in recognition of his
work. Paxton had been head gardener at Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, where he
had befriended its owner, the Duke of Devonshire. Here he had experimented
with glass and iron in the creation of large greenhouses, and had seen
something of their strength and durability. He applied this knowledge to the
plans for the Great Exhibition building --  with astounding
results. Planners had been looking for strength, durability, simplicity of
construction and speed --  and this they got from Paxton's ideas. According
to the 2004 Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Paxton was partly inspired by the
organic structure of the Amazonian lily Victoria regia, which he successfully
cultivated".

Language is based on the work of Henry Mayhew, the great observer,
reformer, and classifier of Victorian
society - list of types of criminals - 5 major categories - hundred entries.
No whitecollar crimes - despite flagrant examples of embezzlement, forgery,
false accounting, bond manipulation, etc.
  (Mayhew, Henry . London Labour and the London Poor)
Walter Watts, insurance clerk embezzled > ₤70K, 1850
Leopold Redpath - ₤ 150K forgeries on Great N Railway Co
Boaumont Smith: ₤ 350K - forged exchequer bonds

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blurb:
In teeming Victorian London, where lavish wealth and appalling poverty live
side by side, Edward Pierce charms the most prominent of the well-to-do as he
cunningly orchestrates the crime of the century. Who would suspect that a
gentleman of breeding could mastermind the daring theft of a fortune in gold?
Who could predict the consequences of making the extraordinary robbery aboard
the pride of England's industrial era, the mighty steam locomotive? Based on
fact, as lively as legend, and studded with all the suspense and style of a
modern fiction master, here is a classic caper novel set a decade before the
age of dynamite--yet nonetheless explosive....