Book description
Vermeer, Goya, Rembrandt, Rubens - the Beit art collection was worth
millions. For decades Sir Alfred and Lady Beit had lived peacefully at
Russborough House in Ireland. Until people started stealing their
paintings...Of all the canvases at Russborough, it was Vermeer's
Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid that most caught the
public's imagination. Twice stolen, once by an IRA sympathiser and
then by notorious gangster Martin Cahill, it risked being lost from
view forever, unless the Garda, together with Scotland Yard and some
seasoned international art detectives, could contrive the perfect sting...
Matthew Hart tells the riveting story of the theft and recovery of
some of the world's most important art, finding new leads and
unexpected connections in the mysterious underworld of international
art crime.
Matthew Hart is a writer and journalist, and the author of
Diamond: The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair.
His work has appeared in
The Times, Granta
and the
Atlantic Monthly
among other publications. He was born in Canada and now lives in
London.
