Masterminds and Misdeeds: True Tales of Infamous Heists

In an era before modern forensics and digital surveillance, a group of clever criminals orchestrated a railway heist so precise, it baffled Victorian law enforcement and captivated the public. On a summer night in 1855, as a train carried war funds from London to Folkestone, thieves swapped the shipment’s gold bars with lead and escaped undetected.

The Great Train Robbery: The Crime of the Century (1855) is a riveting exploration of this infamous crime—from the calculated infiltration of the railway company to the dramatic courtroom battles that followed. With vivid storytelling and meticulous research, James G. Edwards II traces the lives of the conspirators, the flaws in security that enabled the theft, and the betrayal that ultimately brought it all down.

Perfect for fans of historical true crime and listeners fascinated by the origins of modern criminal investigations, this book reveals how a single robbery changed the way a nation secured its wealth—and ignited the imagination of generations to come