{"product_id":"the-map-thief-the-gripping-story-of-an-esteemed-raremap-dealer-who-made-millions-stealing-priceless-maps-9781592408177","title":"The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe story of an infamous crime  a revered map dealer with an unsavory secret  and the ruthless subculture that consumed him  Maps have long exerted a special fascination on viewersboth as beautiful works of art and as practical tools to navigate the world. But to those who collect them  the map trade can be a cutthroat business  inhabited by quirky and sometimes disreputable characters in search of a finite number of extremely rare objects.  Once considered a respectable antiquarian map dealer  E. Forbes Smiley spent years doubling as a map thief until he was finally arrested slipping maps out of books in the Yale University library. The Map Thief delves into the untold history of this fascinating high-stakes criminal and the inside story of the industry that consumed him.  Acclaimed reporter Michael Blanding has interviewed all the key players in this stranger-than-fiction story  and shares the fascinating histories of maps that charted the New World  and how they went from being practical instruments to quirky heirlooms to highly coveted objects. Though pieces of the map theft story have been written before  Blanding is the first reporter to explore the story in fulland had the rare privilege of having access to Smiley himself after hed gone silent in the wake of his crimes. Moreover  although Smiley swears he has admitted to all of the maps he stole  libraries claim he stole hundreds moreand offer intriguing clues to prove it. Now  through a series of exclusive interviews with Smiley and other key individuals  Blanding teases out an astonishing tale of destruction and redemption.  The Map Thief interweaves Smileys escapades with the stories of the explorers and mapmakers he knew better than anyone. Tracking a series of thefts as brazen as the art heists in Provenance and a subculture as obsessive as the oenophiles in The Billionaires Vinegar  Blanding has pieced together an unforgettable story of high-stakes crime.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45816305319989,"sku":"ByrdShop_1592408176","price":25.24,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781592408177.jpg?v=1785181980","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-map-thief-the-gripping-story-of-an-esteemed-raremap-dealer-who-made-millions-stealing-priceless-maps-9781592408177","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}