Great Chinese Art Heist
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€27.50
A01=Ralph Pezzullo
ancient chinese art
anthony amore
art crime
art heists
Author_Ralph Pezzullo
Category=ABK
Category=AGA
Category=DNXC
chinese art
confucius
Drottningholm Palace
drug war
elgin marbles
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
gardener heists
great chinese art heist
jade
ming
opium wars
parthenon marbles
porcelain
rena pederson
second opium wars
stealing rembrants
the art of the con
the king of diamonds
the woman who stole vermeer
triad
Product details
- ISBN 9781639369133
- Weight: 431g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 28 Aug 2025
- Publisher: Pegasus Books
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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The extraordinary story of the theft of priceless Chinese antiques around the world and the connection to crimes spanning more than two centuries—with present-day implications.
For the past decade, the art world has been rocked by a series of very costly and elaborately planned heists at major museums. The first took place the night of August 6, 2010 at the Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden – the official residence of the Swedish Royal family. Others in France, Great Britain and other countries in Europe followed.
In Norway, masked men rappelled down from a glass ceiling into the prestigious Kode Museum on Bergen's picturesque central square, three blocks from police headquarters. In all of these break-ins, the thieves made away with ancient Chinese artifacts, most of which were originally displayed in the spectacular Old Summer Palace outside of Beijing nearly two centuries ago.
In The Great Chinese Art Heist, bestselling author Ralph Pezzullo takes us back to the Second Opium War and the sacking of Old Summer Palace by French and British troops in 1860 and connects it to the current wave of heists that seem right out of a Mission: Impossible movie. Comprehensive, balanced, entertaining, and expertly balancing diverse cultural and political perspectives, Pezzullo links these looted artifacts and roots of colonialism to today's billionaires and triad gangs, international banks and drug cartels. The wounds of the past, which is still called the "Century of Humiliation" in China, remain raw.
The Great Chinese Art Heist is a sweeping narrative filled with the voices of those who have lived it—art and art crime experts, and museum and government officials in China, Europe, and the US. In this riveting true crime, Pezzulo expertly grapples with the questions of ownership and cultural heritage, and embodies the words of art critic Holland Cotter—“The history of art is, in large part, a theft of history.”
For the past decade, the art world has been rocked by a series of very costly and elaborately planned heists at major museums. The first took place the night of August 6, 2010 at the Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden – the official residence of the Swedish Royal family. Others in France, Great Britain and other countries in Europe followed.
In Norway, masked men rappelled down from a glass ceiling into the prestigious Kode Museum on Bergen's picturesque central square, three blocks from police headquarters. In all of these break-ins, the thieves made away with ancient Chinese artifacts, most of which were originally displayed in the spectacular Old Summer Palace outside of Beijing nearly two centuries ago.
In The Great Chinese Art Heist, bestselling author Ralph Pezzullo takes us back to the Second Opium War and the sacking of Old Summer Palace by French and British troops in 1860 and connects it to the current wave of heists that seem right out of a Mission: Impossible movie. Comprehensive, balanced, entertaining, and expertly balancing diverse cultural and political perspectives, Pezzullo links these looted artifacts and roots of colonialism to today's billionaires and triad gangs, international banks and drug cartels. The wounds of the past, which is still called the "Century of Humiliation" in China, remain raw.
The Great Chinese Art Heist is a sweeping narrative filled with the voices of those who have lived it—art and art crime experts, and museum and government officials in China, Europe, and the US. In this riveting true crime, Pezzulo expertly grapples with the questions of ownership and cultural heritage, and embodies the words of art critic Holland Cotter—“The history of art is, in large part, a theft of history.”
Ralph Pezzullo is a New York Times bestselling author and the host of the popular podcast Heroes Behind Headlines. After receiving a Master's Degree in International Affairs, he worked on Capitol Hill and later as a correspondent for Associated Press covering assignments in Latin America, and creating relationships with other diplomats, CIA agents, and military attaches across the world. His more than thirty books include Jawbreaker (with Gary Berntsen), Zero Footprint, Left of Boom, Ghost, and his memoir Saigon, which was recently published in Vietnamese.
