Stolen World

Author : Jennie Erin Smith
Publisher : Crown
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2011-01-04
Category : True Crime
ISBN : 9780307720269

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Stolen World by Jennie Erin Smith Pdf

Tortoises disappear from a Madagascar reserve and reappear in the Bronx Zoo. A dead iguana floats in a jar, awaiting its unveiling in a Florida court. A viper causes mayhem from Ethiopia to Virginia. In Stolen World, Jennie Erin Smith takes the reader on an unforgettable journey, a dark adventure over five decades and six continents. In 1965, Hank Molt, a young cheese salesman from Philadelphia, reinvented himself as a “specialist dealer in rare fauna,” traveling the world to collect exquisite reptiles for zoos and museums. By the end of the decade that followed, new endangered species laws had turned Molt into a convicted smuggler, and an unrepentant one, who went on to provide many of the same rare reptiles to many of the same institutions, covertly. But Molt soon found a rival in Tommy Crutchfield, a Florida carpet salesman with every intention of usurping Molt as the most accomplished reptile smuggler in the country. Like Molt, Crutchfield had modeled himself after an earlier generation of natural-history collectors celebrated for their service to science, an ideal that, for Molt and Crutchfield, eclipsed the realities of the new wildlife-protection laws. Zoo curators, caught between a desire for rare animals and the conservation-minded focus of their institutions, became the smugglers’ antagonists in court but also their best customers, sometimes simultaneously. Crutchfield forged ties with a criminally inclined Malaysian wildlife trader and emerged a millionaire, beloved by some of the finest zoos in the world. Molt, following a string of inventive but disastrous smuggling schemes in New Guinea, was reduced to hanging around Crutchfield’s Florida compound, plotting Crutchfield’s demise. The fallout from their feud would result in a major federal investigation with tentacles in Germany, Madagascar, Holland, and Malaysia. And yet even after prison, personal ruin, and the depredations of age, Molt and Crutchfield never stopped scheming, never stopped longing for the snake or lizard that would earn each his rightful place in a world that had forgotten them—or rather, had never recognized them to begin with.

Author : Grace Blakeley
Publisher : Watkins Media Limited
Page : 298 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2019-09-10
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781912248407

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Stolen by Grace Blakeley Pdf

A must-read polemic about why the 'recovery' from the 2007-08 crash mostly benefited the 1%, and how democratic socialism can save us from a new crash and climate catastrophe. For decades, it has been easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, booming banks, rising house prices and cheap consumer goods propped up living standards in the rich world. Thirty years of rocketing debt and financial wizardry had masked the deep underlying fragility of finance-led growth, and in 2008 we were forced to pay up. The decade since has witnessed all kinds of morbid symptoms, as all around the rich world, wages and productivity are stagnant, inequality is rising, and ecological systems are collapsing. Stolen is a history of finance-led growth and a guide as to how we might escape it. We've sat back as financial capitalism has stolen our economies, our environment and even the future itself. Now, we have an opportunity to change course. What happens next is up to us.

Author : J.T. Nicholas
Publisher : Titan Books (US, CA)
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2021-09-21
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781789093162

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Stolen Earth by J.T. Nicholas Pdf

Firefly meets The Expanse in a future where humanity has destroyed the Earth through ecological disaster and warfare, and a totalitarian state prevents any access to their home... Environmental disasters and AI armies have caused the human population of Earth to flee. They lie scattered across space stations and colonies, overcrowded and suffering. The Earth is cut off by the Interdiction Zone: a network of satellites that prevents any escape from the planet. The incredible cost of maintaining it has crippled humanity, who struggle under the totalitarian yoke of the Sol Commonwealth government. Many have been driven to the edge of society, taking any work offered, criminal and otherwise, in order to survive. The crew of the Arcus are just such people. Through the Interdiction Zone, a world of priceless artifacts awaits, provided anyone is crazy enough to make the run. With fuel running low and cred accounts even lower, the Arcus’ survival might depend on taking the job. Yet on arrival on Earth, the crew discovers that what remains of their world is not as they have been told, and the truth may bring the entire Sol Commonwealth tumbling down…

Author : Sharon Waxman
Publisher : Macmillan
Page : 432 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2010-04-01
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781429960434

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Loot by Sharon Waxman Pdf

A journey across four continents to the heart of the conflict over who should own the great works of ancient art Why are the Elgin Marbles in London and not on the Acropolis? Why do there seem to be as many mummies in France as there are in Egypt? Why are so many Etruscan masterworks in America? For the past two centuries, the West has been plundering the treasures of the ancient world to fill its great museums, but in recent years, the countries where ancient civilizations originated have begun to push back, taking museums to court, prosecuting curators, and threatening to force the return of these priceless objects. Where do these treasures rightly belong? Sharon Waxman, a former culture reporter for The New York Times and a longtime foreign correspondent, brings us inside this high-stakes conflict, examining the implications for the preservation of the objects themselves and for how we understand our shared cultural heritage. Her journey takes readers from the great cities of Europe and America to Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, as these countries face down the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She also introduces a cast of determined and implacable characters whose battles may strip these museums of some of their most cherished treasures. For readers who are fascinated by antiquity, who love to frequent museums, and who believe in the value of cultural exchange, Loot opens a new window on an enduring conflict.

Author : Robert K. Wittman,John Shiffman
Publisher : Crown
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2011-06-07
Category : True Crime
ISBN : 9780307461483

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Priceless by Robert K. Wittman,John Shiffman Pdf

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 FBI’s 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 nation’s first African-American regiments. The breadth of Wittman’s 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 FBI’s accounting, Wittman saved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art and antiquities. He says the statistic isn’t important. After all, who’s to say what is worth more --a Rembrandt self-portrait or an American flag carried into battle? They're 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 Washington's hair just wanted to make a few extra bucks, figuring no one would miss what he’d 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.

Author : Joshua Knelman
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2012-09-14
Category : Art thefts
ISBN : 1771000694

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Hot Art by Joshua Knelman Pdf

Winner of the Edna Staebler Award and the Arthur Ellis Award for Non Fiction The Thomas Crown Affair meets The Devil in the White City in this fast-paced true crime story of the seedy-underbelly of international art theft. A major work of investigative journalism, Hot Art is a globetrotting mystery filled with cunning and eccentric characters. Joshua Knelman spent four years immersing himself in the mysterious world of international art theft, travelling from Cairo to New York, London, Montreal and Los Angeles. He befriends the slippery Paul, a master art thief; and gets caught up in the world of Donald Hrycyk, a detective working on a shoestring budget to recover stolen art. Through alternating chapters focusing on Paul and an international network of detectives, the story of the thief and the detective unfolds, revealing the dramatic rise of international art theft. Joshua Knelman's investigation finds there are only a handful of detectives, FBI agents and lawyers fighting a global battle against the thriving black market of international art theft estimated to be one of the largest in the world. Meanwhile, the chain of criminals moves from thugs on the street to multinational organized crime syndicates, to a global network of art dealers who wash the artworks' origins clean again. In a surprise ending, Knelman learns that corruption can appear in the unlikeliest places.

Author : Vandana Shiva
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 154 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2016-01-14
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780813166797

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Stolen Harvest by Vandana Shiva Pdf

For the farmer, the seed is not merely the source of future plants and food; it is a vehicle through which culture and history can be preserved and spread to future generations. For centuries, farmers have evolved crops and produced an incredible diversity of plants that provide life-sustaining nutrition. In India alone, the ingenuity of farmers has produced over 200,000 varieties of rice, many of which now line store shelves around the world. This productive tradition, however, is under attack as globalized, corporate regimes increasingly exploit intellectual property laws to annex these sustaining seeds and remove them from the public sphere. In Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply, Shiva explores the devastating effects of commercial agriculture and genetic engineering on the food we eat, the farmers who grow it, and the soil that sustains it. This prescient critique and call to action covers some of the most pressing topics of this ongoing dialogue, from the destruction of local food cultures and the privatization of plant life, to unsustainable industrial fish farming and safety concerns about corporately engineered foods. The preeminent agricultural activist and scientist of a generation, Shiva implores the farmers and consumers of the world to make a united stand against the genetically modified crops and untenable farming practices that endanger the seeds and plants that give us life.

Author : Melanie Florence
Publisher : Second Story Press
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2017-09-05
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9781772602340

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Stolen Words by Melanie Florence Pdf

The story of the beautiful relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks her grandfather how to say something in his language – Cree – he admits that his language was stolen from him when he was a boy. The little girl then sets out to help her grandfather find his language again. This sensitive and warmly illustrated picture book explores the intergenerational impact of the residential school system that separated young Indigenous children from their families. The story recognizes the pain of those whose culture and language were taken from them, how that pain is passed down, and how healing can also be shared.

Author : Josh Knelman
Publisher : D & M Publishers
Page : 1 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2011-09-02
Category : True Crime
ISBN : 9781553658924

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Hot Art by Josh Knelman Pdf

• Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Nonfiction The Thomas Crown Affair meets The Devil in the White City in this fast-paced, character-driven story that breaks open the secrets of international art theft A major work of investigative journalism, Hot Art is also Joshua Knelman's tale of the young reporter chasing a story idea that turns out to be a globe-trotting mystery, filled with cunning and eccentric characters: art thieves who threaten and then befriend him, gallery owners who avoid him, FBI agents and senior detectives who tolerate him, and art lawyers who embrace him in their ongoing fight to sound the alarm about the disturbing secrets of art dealership vis a vis the black market and how it is exploding around the world, unchecked and unregulated. Knelman befriends the slippery Paul, a skilled art thief, and Donald Hrycyk, who works on a shoestring budget in downtown L.A. to recover stolen art. Through alternating chapters focusing on Paul and Don, the story of a thief and a detective unfolds, in the process revealing the dramatic rise of international art theft. And in a surprise ending, Knelman learns that corruption can appear in the unlikeliest places.

Author : Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Publisher : Scholastic Inc.
Page : 147 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2019-02-26
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9781338233063

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Stolen Girl by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch Pdf

A companion to Making Bombs for Hitler and The War Below, this novel follows a Ukrainian girl who was kidnapped as a child to be raised by a Nazi family. Nadia is haunted by World War II. Her memories of the war are messy, coming back to her in pieces and flashes she can't control. Though her adoptive mother says they are safe now, Nadia's flashbacks keep coming.Sometimes she remembers running, hunger, and isolation. But other times she remembers living with a German family, and attending big rallies where she was praised for her light hair and blue eyes. The puzzle pieces don't quite fit together, and Nadia is scared by what might be true. Could she have been raised by Nazis? Were they her real family? What part did she play in the war?What Nadia finally discovers about her own history will shock her. But only when she understands the past can she truly face her future.Inspired by startling true events, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch delivers a gripping and poignant story of one girl's determination to uncover her truth.

Author : Maita Floyd
Publisher : Eskualdun Publishers, Limited
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : STANFORD:36105070590125

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Stolen Years by Maita Floyd Pdf

Author : Eric Stauffer,Monica Bonfanti
Publisher : Elsevier
Page : 632 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2006-10-11
Category : Law
ISBN : 0080477887

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Forensic Investigation of Stolen-Recovered and Other Crime-Related Vehicles by Eric Stauffer,Monica Bonfanti Pdf

Forensic Investigation of Stolen-Recovered and Other Crime-Related Vehicles provides unique and detailed insights into the investigations of one of the most common crime scenes in the world. In addition to a thorough treatment of auto theft, the book covers vehicles involved in other forms of crime—dealing extensively with the various procedures and dynamics of evidence as it might be left in any crime scene. An impressive collection of expert contributors covers a wide variety of subjects, including chapters on vehicle identification, examination of burned vehicles, vehicles recovered from under water, vehicles involved in terrorism, vehicle tracking, alarms, anti-theft systems, steering columns, and ignition locks. The book also covers such topics as victim and witness interviews, public and private auto theft investigations, detection of trace evidence and chemical traces, vehicle search techniques, analysis of automotive fluids, vehicle registration, document examination, and vehicle crime mapping. It is the ultimate reference guide for any auto theft investigator, crime scene technician, criminalist, police investigator, criminologist, or insurance adjuster. Extensively researched and exceptionally well-written by internationally-recognized experts in auto theft investigation and forensic science All the principles explained in the text are well-illustrated and demonstrated with more than 450 black and white and about 100 full-color illustrations, many directly from real cases Serves as both a valuable reference guide to the professional and an effective teaching tool for the forensic science student

Author : Catherine M. Cameron
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2016
Category : SOCIAL SCIENCE
ISBN : 9780803295766

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Captives by Catherine M. Cameron Pdf

"In Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World archaeologist Catherine M. Cameron provides an eye-opening comparative study of the profound impact that captives of warfare and raiding have had on small-scale societies through time. Cameron provides a new point of orientation for archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and other scholars by illuminating the impact that captive-taking and enslavement have had on cultural change, with important implications for understanding the past. Focusing primarily on indigenous societies in the Americas while extending the comparative reach to include Europe, Africa, and Island Southeast Asia, Cameron draws on ethnographic, ethnohistoric, historic, and archaeological data to examine the roles that captives played in small-scale societies. In such societies, captives represented an almost universal social category consisting predominantly of women and children and constituting 10 to 50 percent of the population in a given society. Cameron demonstrates how captives brought with them new technologies, design styles, foodways, religious practices, and more, all of which changed the captor culture. This book provides a framework that will enable archaeologists to understand the scale and nature of cultural transmission by captivesand it will also interest anthropologists, historians, and other scholars who study captive-taking and slavery. Cameron's exploration of the peculiar amnesia that surrounds memories of captive-taking and enslavement around the world also establishes a connection with unmistakable contemporary relevance"--

Author : Peter Robbins
Publisher : Zed Books
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2003-11-29
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1842772813

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Stolen Fruit by Peter Robbins Pdf

Fifty or more developing countries still depend mainly on the tropical commodities or minerals that they produce. But encouraging so many countries to grow coffee, sugar, cotton and other crops has been a disaster. Small farmers get only a tiny share of the final tag on these commodities on supermarket shelves in the North. Prices have collapsed, terms of trade between North and South have widened, and foreign exchange earnings, tax revenues, and economic growth in developing countries have plummeted. Peter Robbins examines how this situation came about, the current trading arrangements and the possible ways forward. He argues that, if developing countries are to measure up to the scale of the disaster facing them, they must take a leaf out of supply side economics, and take the measures to bring supply and demand into a balance that will secure them far higher and more stable prices.

Author : Laura Morelli
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 458 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2021-09-21
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780062993601

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The Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli Pdf

From the acclaimed author of The Night Portrait comes a stunning historical novel about two women, separated by five hundred years, who each hide Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa—with unintended consequences. France, 1939 At the dawn of World War II, Anne Guichard, a young archivist employed at the Louvre, arrives home to find her brother missing. While she works to discover his whereabouts, refugees begin flooding into Paris and German artillery fire rattles the city. Once they reach the city, the Nazis will stop at nothing to get their hands on the Louvre’s art collection. Anne is quickly sent to the Castle of Chambord, where the Louvre’s most precious artworks—including the Mona Lisa—are being transferred to ensure their safety. With the Germans hard on their heels, Anne frantically moves the Mona Lisa and other treasures again and again in an elaborate game of hide and seek. As the threat to the masterpieces and her life grows closer, Anne also begins to learn the truth about her brother and the role he plays in this dangerous game. Florence, 1479 House servant Bellina Sardi’s future seems fixed when she accompanies her newly married mistress, Lisa Gherardini, to her home across the Arno. Lisa’s husband, a prosperous silk merchant, is aligned with the powerful Medici, his home filled with luxuries and treasures. But soon, Bellina finds herself bewitched by a charismatic monk who has urged Florentines to rise up against the Medici and to empty their homes of the riches and jewels her new employer prizes. When Master Leonardo da Vinci is commissioned to paint a portrait of Lisa, Bellina finds herself tasked with hiding an impossible secret. When art and war collide, Leonardo da Vinci, his beautiful subject Lisa, and the portrait find themselves in the crosshairs of history.