false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170400433m/53164.jpg 53164 1 In the spring of 1994, Daniel Spiegelman shinnied up an abandoned book lift in Columbia University's Butler Library, dismantled a wall, stole books, reassembled the wall, and snuck back down the shaft. Over a three-month period he did this more than a dozen times. He eventually escaped to Europe with roughly $1.8 million in rare books, letters and manuscripts. When he was caught in the Netherlands, he tried to avoid extradition to the U.S. by telling the Dutch authorities he was a financier of the Oklahoma City bombing-- knowing they wouldn't extradite someone facing the death penalty. Eventually, the FBI got him back to New York, where he finally stood trial for his crimes. Four years, four attorneys, one determined librarian, numerous court appearances, and one guilty plea after the initial crime took place, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York meted out a sentence that ran counter to the plea agreement, nearly doubling the ordinary sentence for a crime of that magnitude. In so doing, he created a new justification for departure from Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Basing his decision on the potential harm inflicted on society as a whole by the theft of "rare and unique elements of our cultural heritage," Judge Kaplan redefined the value of such rare items and justified his sentencing by determining the value to be beyond the monetary realm. McDade recounts all the sordid elements of this true-crime caper in vivid detail, presenting readers with a retelling of the crimes, dialogue from the court transcripts, and explanations of the legal consequences and intricacies. In addition to the significant, overall legal themes, The Book Thief describes two prison escape attempts, one suicide attempt, a jailed defense lawyer, and the aftermath of this unique and interesting case. 51848 30 10 2006 The Book Thief: The True Crimes of Daniel Spiegelman total:11|5:2|3:4|2:3|1:2| 11 30 21 4 3 0 false false Thu Aug 20 16:48:11 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 09:16:53 -0700 2009 With that rather pointless introduction out of the way, let me say that I have no idea what was the author's goal in writing this book. The introduction, at less than two pages, reads like a crime novel: " In the b...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Mar 17 17:31:24 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 17:31:43 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Wed Nov 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jul 06 20:23:14 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 05 21:30:28 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 17 09:32:45 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 17 09:34:08 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue Aug 25 08:02:55 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 08:02:55 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jun 27 10:46:49 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 10:46:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 12 12:30:50 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 12:30:50 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Feb 27 12:35:38 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 12:35:38 -0800 2009 1 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 08 13:37:54 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 12:01:13 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Dec 10 19:13:29 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 19:13:29 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Mon Jan 12 10:06:13 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 18 09:38:30 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 12 10:06:13 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 10 20:15:17 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 10 20:15:17 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Fri Oct 17 20:16:52 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 17 20:16:52 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Wed Sep 17 16:03:33 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 17 16:03:33 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Fri Sep 19 20:59:29 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 31 17:45:38 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 19 20:59:29 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Wed Jul 30 10:01:15 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 10:01:22 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Mon May 12 17:15:32 -0700 2008 Mon May 12 17:15:32 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue Feb 26 10:48:05 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 26 10:48:11 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Tue Oct 30 17:14:57 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 30 17:14:57 -0700 2007 1 0 false false Sun Jul 08 09:59:03 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 26 10:19:01 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=53164