Book description
£2. 6 million stolen in 46 minutes, prison sentences totalling 378
years, 23 criminals, countless victims.
In the early hours of Thursday, 8 August 1963 at Sears Crossing near
Cheddington in Buckinghamshire, £2. 6 million (£45 million today) in
unmarked £5, £1 and 10 shilling notes was stolen from the Glasgow to
London mail train in a violent and daring raid which took forty-six
minutes. Quickly dubbed 'the Crime of the Century', it has captured the
imagination of the public and the world's media for fifty years, taking
its place in British folklore. Ronnie Biggs, Bruce Reynolds and Buster
Edwards became household names and their accounts have fed the myths and
legends of 'The Great Train Robbery'.
But what really happened?
This definitive account dismantles the myths and strips away the
sensational headlines to reveal a flawed, darker and more complex story.
The crime, the police investigation, the trial, two escapes from
high-security prisons, and an establishment under siege are all laid
bare in astonishing detail for an epic tale of crime and punishment.
Fifty years later, here is the story set out in full for the first time
-- a true-life crime thriller, and also a vivid slice of British social
history. Stewart Richards has worked as a film producer, television
executive and audio book publisher. Nick Russell-Pavier is a writer,
dramatist, TV and film composer and producer.
