Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 262
•
Trim: 6½ x 9¼
978-1-4422-3545-8 • Hardback • July 2015 • $51.00 • (£39.00)
978-1-5381-1288-5 • Paperback • January 2018 • $33.00 • (£25.00)
978-1-4422-3546-5 • eBook • July 2015 • $31.00 • (£25.00)
Jerry Clark, PhD, retired as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2011 after twenty-seven years in law enforcement, including careers as a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. He is an assistant professor of criminal justice at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he is also director of risk analysis and mitigation at McManis & Monsalve Associates.
Ed Palattella joined the Erie Times-News, in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1990. He has won a number of awards, including for his investigative work and his coverage of crime.
Introduction
1: Breaking In: Early Banks and Early Thieves
2: The Original Outlaw: Jesse James, the Civil War, and Crimes like No Other
3: Robbery on the Range: The Wild West, the Wild Bunch, and the Rise of the Professional Bandit
4: The G-Men Get Guns: Bank Robbery and the Birth of the Modern FBI
5: Marquee Mayhem: John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and the Glamorization of the Gangster
6: Lone Wolves: Willie Sutton, the Great Brink’s Robbery, and a Thief Found Dead
7: Countercultural Chaos: Clean-Cut Killers, Patty Hearst, and a Dog Day Afternoon
8: Striking Back, Striking Big: Boosted Bank Security and Record-Breaking Hauls
9: Robbery and Reverberations: Pizza Bomber, the Post-9/11 FBI, and Online Heists
Afterword
Retired FBI agent Clark and veteran journalist Palattella [offer a] . . . solid survey of bank robberies in the United States, beginning in 1798 with the first one on record and spanning to the present. . . . The book serves as a useful introduction to the topic, particularly in the sections that cover the 18th and 19th centuries.
— Publishers Weekly
A good bank robbery has us walking along a razor, and the new book A History of Heists: Bank Robbery in America walks us along the sharp edge of our confused sympathies. . . .Clark and Palattella are able to draw a continuous line from one iconic robbery to the next in their history, while simultaneously explaining how every bank robbery is a distinct product of its era. They not only look at how banks get robbed, but why bank robbery becomes the crime of choice for certain kind of criminal. It's an explanation of how bank robbers become folk heroes, never summed up better than by Dillinger's line, 'We don't want your money. We just want the bank's.'
— Biographile
Happily, A History of Heists is loaded with flesh-and-blood characters who don't fret about being down a quart or two of blood. People like Jesse James, who Clark and Palattella call 'the original outlaw.' . . . . A History of Heists is a thoroughly professional job; Clark and Palattella don't miss much. Behind the scenes, I imagine Palattella, a reporter at the Erie Times-News, writing most of the text in his garret at home, with Clark, a former FBI agent, providing research and professional know-how. I love Palattella's well-slanted take on the characters in his book: 'The Sundance Kid ... settled on banditry as his calling.' In fact, I'm glad Palattella settled on storytelling as his calling because, with Clark's expertise, there's a lot of story to tell in their new A History of Heists.
— Erie Times-News
What Clark and Palattella have done quite effectively is bring the historical characters to life. From Jesse James and his need for publicity to Butch Cassidy and his creation of the professional thief to the lesser known Henry James who they call the last of the horseback outlaws these men, and occasionally ladies, are given their due. While these people are criminals, often violent ones, we come to see them as humans as well. . . .While certainly not a definitive look at bank robberies or the most notorious robbers this is a book that succinctly covers the subject. It is an easy read and recommended for those with a passing interest as well as those with more knowledge on the subject. Complete with b/w photos, notes, and a bibliography this is a book sure to engage any true crime reader. Recommended.
— Robert Redd Historian & Author
Clark and Palattella have clearly joined the ranks of bank robbery myth busters in a well researched and carefully documented history of bank robbers and bank robbery from the western frontier to modern day urban America. While they provide very interesting and humanizing insights into the background of some of our Nation’s most well-known bank robbers, they leave no doubt that these men and women were criminals and often killers. Clark’s law enforcement and academic background, along with Palattella’s journalism background, make this book a fascinating read.
— Magnus Seng, Ph.D., Senior Professor Emeritus,Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Loyola University Chicago
I love A History of Heists. Reading it is like sitting in with former FBI agent Jerry Clark as he interrogates a perp, and meeting underworld sources with investigative journalist Ed Palattella, all at the same time. The only way to learn more about heists is to rob a bank yourself.
— Matt Rees, award-winning crime novelist, author of The Collaborator of Bethlehem
Clark and Palattella have done something difficult and unusual--they've given us not just isolated robberies or eras or bank robbers, but the long history of big heists. We learn how felon's techniques evolved over decades, and how law enforcement responded. A History of Heists is a good and rewarding read.
— Elliott J. Gorn, author of Dillinger's Wild Ride
I love this book! Jerry and his co-author do an amazing job of taking the reader through a fascinating history of bank robbery. All bank robbers are not created equal, and they will tell you why. This is better than any Hollywood depiction of bank robbers. It’s the real deal!
— Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, Retired FBI Profiler, BAU; Director Forensic Sciences Program, George Mason University