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280th out of 3,222 books
—
13,999 voters
The Great Train Robbery
Lavish wealth and appalling poverty live side by side in Victorian London—and Edward Pierce easily navigates both worlds. Rich, handsome, and ingenious, he charms the city's most prominent citizens even as he plots the crime of his century, the daring theft of a fortune in gold. But even Pierce could not predict the consequences of an extraordinary robbery that targets the
...moreMass Market Paperback, 300 pages
Published
October 20th 1979
by Bantam
(first published 1975)
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For some reason, whenever someone had mentioned this book to me earlier, I had always pictured a cowboy on horseback chasing down a train in the wild, wild west, complete with a lasso in his hand. I have no idea how I made that relation but the image stuck. And since cowboys and westerns were not really my thing, I had never felt the urge to pick this book up, until now.
Oh, how so very wrong I had been!
You can safely assume I kicked myself a fair number of times after I was about a quarter-way t...more
Oh, how so very wrong I had been!
You can safely assume I kicked myself a fair number of times after I was about a quarter-way t...more
"True crime" account of the Great Train Robbery in England in 1855. I really liked the book, more so than the other books by Michael Crichton that I've read in the past.
The book is fairly short, and reads even shorter, as the book maintains a quick pace from start to finish. One aspect of the book that I found particularly enjoyable was the way Crichton wove bits and pieces of information about the subsequent trial of the perpetrators throughout the main plot line to illustrate many of the clev...more
The book is fairly short, and reads even shorter, as the book maintains a quick pace from start to finish. One aspect of the book that I found particularly enjoyable was the way Crichton wove bits and pieces of information about the subsequent trial of the perpetrators throughout the main plot line to illustrate many of the clev...more
Crime novel on a grand scale, I love how this book covers the plotting and scheming of the robbery. The best comparison I can think of is the ocean eleven, particularly with details like the slang for the jobs typical to this "profession" and the underground roles of people who set these attempts in motion. Its a different spin on the crime with the focus on the criminals and not on those solving the crime. A well written and intriguing suspense novel by a quality author, although this is probab...more
Jul 11, 2007
Ed G
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Crichton fans, adventure fans, mystery fans
All I'm going to say about Crichton is that he has a knack for what I call the "miracle ending". In one summer I read Congo, Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery and Sphere. I felt the same about each of them when I finished each.
He's a very good writer with captivating storylines, dead on science, compelling plot and in depth characters, but...I feel like he gets tired of writing the same story or can't properly tie things together at the end so he has som...more
He's a very good writer with captivating storylines, dead on science, compelling plot and in depth characters, but...I feel like he gets tired of writing the same story or can't properly tie things together at the end so he has som...more
The first word that comes to mind for this book is fascinating. Truly captivating and very well written. I confess I've only read a handful of true crime books, but this one was incredible.
What I admire most about this book is Crichton's way of accounting the facts for the reader. He details certain pertinent facts, then shores that up with scenes of criminals meeting, discussing details and so on.
For myself, usually I find my mind drifting when mundane, but necessary tedious facts are needed to...more
What I admire most about this book is Crichton's way of accounting the facts for the reader. He details certain pertinent facts, then shores that up with scenes of criminals meeting, discussing details and so on.
For myself, usually I find my mind drifting when mundane, but necessary tedious facts are needed to...more
Michael Crichton
The Great Train Robbery
Avon, Paperback, 2002.
12mo. xx+329 pp. Introduction by Michael Crichton, November 1974 [xiii-xx].
First published, 1975.
Contents
Introduction
Part I
Preparations
Part II
The Keys
Part III
Delays and Difficulties
Part IV
The Great Train Robbery
Part V
Arrest and Trial
=======================================
I have read this book by sheer accident. I received it as a gift and, since I had seen and enjoyed the movie, I thought I might out of pure curiosity have a look at t...more
The Great Train Robbery
Avon, Paperback, 2002.
12mo. xx+329 pp. Introduction by Michael Crichton, November 1974 [xiii-xx].
First published, 1975.
Contents
Introduction
Part I
Preparations
Part II
The Keys
Part III
Delays and Difficulties
Part IV
The Great Train Robbery
Part V
Arrest and Trial
=======================================
I have read this book by sheer accident. I received it as a gift and, since I had seen and enjoyed the movie, I thought I might out of pure curiosity have a look at t...more
The critical acclaim of this book really set me up for disappointment...I went to the library looking for Jurassic Park, wanting an exciting adventure novel, and it was out...but the claims of this being Crichton's best novel intrigued me...I was too stupid to see when it was published to know that it was prior to some of his more popular works.
I possibly didn't enjoy it as much as I had anticipated because it was read in many, many small increments. We were on vacation, and I'd read about a pa...more
I possibly didn't enjoy it as much as I had anticipated because it was read in many, many small increments. We were on vacation, and I'd read about a pa...more
I had no idea Crichton had ever published a piece of historical fiction, but he pulled this one off so well that I might have to check to see if he has any more. This book brilliantly presents all of the most fascinating aspects of Victorian England's culture while unfolding the brilliant but reckless scheme behind a remarkable train burglary. Crichton packaged history into a suspenseful storyline, judiciously choosing historical details that would be tantalizing both to a history major and some...more
1 like · like · see review
from Amazon: By sweetmolly
This true story set in Victorian London in 1855 is a beauty of a read. With Michael Crichton weaving his magic over the scene and Edward Pierce, mastermind and protagonist, we have an unbeatable combination. The author does wonders describing authentic period scenes and showing us the huge divide between the English middle class and the wretched poor in Victorian times. Edward Pierce wants 12,000 pounds sterling that will be sent by rail to fund the Crimean War. The obs...more
This true story set in Victorian London in 1855 is a beauty of a read. With Michael Crichton weaving his magic over the scene and Edward Pierce, mastermind and protagonist, we have an unbeatable combination. The author does wonders describing authentic period scenes and showing us the huge divide between the English middle class and the wretched poor in Victorian times. Edward Pierce wants 12,000 pounds sterling that will be sent by rail to fund the Crimean War. The obs...more
The images conjured up by Victorian London have always been the ones I as a reader love reveling in. Horse drawn carriages, gas light lit streets, the upright manners and social norms that put a set of most beastly human urges on a leash, heights of monetary decadence and abject pits of poverty abound in these images that I make up in my mind. One part of why I adore Mr.Holmes, like many others is undoubtedly such an image of London and thereabouts. I wouldn't have been this taken by the detecti...more
I found The Great Train Robbery at my local Half-Price Books, stuck on the clearance shelves and marked down to a dollar. At that price I'm willing to take a risk on almost any book, no matter how awful it looks or how battered it is; after a quick glance at the synopsis on the back, I dropped the book into my basket.
I am so glad that I did. I've always loved pop-history books and this is one of the better ones I've read. Granted, its 1975 publication date means that it does things a little diff...more
I am so glad that I did. I've always loved pop-history books and this is one of the better ones I've read. Granted, its 1975 publication date means that it does things a little diff...more
Great historical "info-tainment" that reads like the first OCEAN'S 11 movie, only grittier. Crichton really knows how to write a caper: he starts with a "mission impossible" scenario and then makes sure to pepper in as many unforeseen complications as possible. The story seems so tailor-made for the big screen that it's hard to believe the majority of it is supposedly based on fact. And a movie did eventually get made out of this, with Crichton himself directing. But what makes this book so supe...more
1 like · like · see review
I’m not usually one for required reading, but this is definitely worth the reading list honor. Set in 19th century London, this novel tells the tale of a group of criminals, masterminded by the smooth Edward Pierce, and their attempt to pull off the greatest crime of all time. Definitely intriguing and exciting, I found myself becoming a fan of the villains and wanting to hear more about how their ultimate crime was planned and performed.
1 like · like · see review
A riveting, realistic tale of a robbery, nowhere faltering in essentially details. Michael Crichton gives you the real deal - the whole works, the planning and the robbery.
It happens in the 1850s Victorian England and Crichton does an awesome job of recreating the society, the location and the people. To dismiss this as a tale of mere thrills, robbery and some villains would be a very narrow view of it. You'll learn more about England's workings, the society back then, the prejudices involved...more
It happens in the 1850s Victorian England and Crichton does an awesome job of recreating the society, the location and the people. To dismiss this as a tale of mere thrills, robbery and some villains would be a very narrow view of it. You'll learn more about England's workings, the society back then, the prejudices involved...more
Review
...more
"A nineteenth-century version of The Sting...Crichton fascinates us."-- The New, York Times Book Review -- Review
Product DescriptionLavish wealth and appalling poverty live side by side in Victorian London -- and Edward Pierce easily navigates both worlds. Rich, handsome, and ingenious, he charms the city's most prominent citizens even as he plots the crime of his century -- the daring theft of a fortune in gold.
But even Pierce could not predict the consequences of an extraordinary ro
Can this really even be considered a novel? It's more like a series of lectures loosely stitched around a historical heist (a great train robbery, it so happens). The plot trickles out in dribs and drabs, frequently interrupted every few paragraphs by gracelessly inserted infodumps that go on for pages. There's zero characterization unless Crichton's repeated descriptions of the protagonist's red beard count (and there follows a mini-lecture on Victorian whisker fashions). The dialogue is nearly...more
I had read all of Crichton's books that had been published as of my senior year of high school. Now, some 13 years hence, I was drawn back into reading them again. I know that I read The Great Train Robbery, and some scenes were familiar, but on the whole I didn't remember the story at all.
This is a very interesting novel with a mixed theme of historical fiction and mystery. I had to do some quick research after reading to see what details were true and what came from the mind of the author. The...more
This is a very interesting novel with a mixed theme of historical fiction and mystery. I had to do some quick research after reading to see what details were true and what came from the mind of the author. The...more
I think this was one of Crichton's finest pieces of his life. Unfortunately, this might be due to the fact that the original story was not his creation. If you look up the train robbery, a few names are switched around, but obviously Crichton does so to avoid some confusion that could arise in the story had he kept the original names. He does put the piece together well, and the story keeps you turning page after page in awe. A lot of blurbs on Victorian history are thrown in between paragraphs...more
What a really great story. While the facts of the real 1855 robbery of gold from a British train are interesting in and of themselves, Crichton makes this about so much more. The details of mid-Victorian London that he adds are fascinating (and I should say made even more fascinating when narrated by Simon Prebble). The author offers great insight into the glaring differences between the classes, the criminal culture that seethed through London, the almost incomprehensible language used by crimi...more
The true story of The Great Train Robbery of 1855 (all caps because it is that famous). This is just a great, fun story. Shades of The Wild Wild West, Oliver Twist and Sherlock Holmes. Michael Crichton takes us on a step-by-step trek through the planning and execution of the greatest train robbery of all time. You will think the cast of characters was picked from a Broadway play – the safecracker; the “judies” (ladies of the evening); the socialite; the chimney sweep (able to crawl in and out of...more
Jan 11, 2010
Bibliomantic
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
history,
it-s-a-rough-life-out-there-crime
Only about half of this text may be considered as that belonging to a novel. The other half is comprised of a series of lectures, notes, or asides, whatever one wants to call the intermittent commentary on anything and everything historical and otherwise that Crichton thinks the reader needs explained. It’s good that virtually all of them are interesting, many are even fascinating, but somehow I felt it would have been better if they were integrated into the novel proper without it seeming like...more
Based on factual accounts through excerpts of the trial, Crichton delivers a fast-paced Victorian crime story. I liked how Crichton set up the story from the inception, to the planning, to the mishaps, and eventually to the execution of The Great Train Robbery. Edward Pierce, the mastermind behind The Great Train Robbery of 1855, is a smart and calculating character. As a reader, I found myself rooting for the bad guy, so to say, as Crichton did a fantastic job telling the story through the eyes...more
1 like · like · see review
Reasons why I implore you to check out this book
The Setting: The 1850's, Victorian England. Rich, colourful and detailed, this is one of the most dynamic periods of English history, forever loved by readers both young and old. It was a world of contradictions: beneath the aforementioned richness, lay the pall of poverty, sickness, prostitution and death, harboured by the ongoing Industrial Revolution. The author, Michael Chrichton flits so seamlessly between the two, that it creates a wonderfu...more
The Setting: The 1850's, Victorian England. Rich, colourful and detailed, this is one of the most dynamic periods of English history, forever loved by readers both young and old. It was a world of contradictions: beneath the aforementioned richness, lay the pall of poverty, sickness, prostitution and death, harboured by the ongoing Industrial Revolution. The author, Michael Chrichton flits so seamlessly between the two, that it creates a wonderfu...more
7 likes · like · see review
Michael Crichton tells the story of the Great Train Robbery in an almost academic fashion. Drawing from court testimony from the (actual) trial of the 1855 Gold Heist, he describes the complicated "pull" as an elegant feat performed by a patient and savvy criminal mastermind. Playfully delivered throughout the story is the message that hard work and determination can pay off in any profession. And rather than injecting social criticism, Crichton, instead, portrays the criminal element of mid-Vic...more
PB - This is an early Crichton (Pub 1975) and is a period piece set in the mid 1800s. It’s a combination of know facts and narrative by the author stitched together in an absorbing telling of a well planned robbery of a shipment of gold to pay the army fighting in Crimea.
There is an extensive use of the vernacular of the lower and criminal class of the period as well as translations. The planning by the principal character, one Edward Pierce is exacting and done over an extended time. I found it...more
A friend at work lent me this book a long time ago and I finally got around to reading it. It's the perfect kind of book to read on my lunch break at work. Crichton's intelligent story telling kept me interested, and the short chapters made me feel like I was making progress.
The story is set in mid nineteenth century London, and is full of colorful characters, scallawags and buffoons alike. Crighton's digressions are like little historical nuggets. They enlighten, inform and entertain. The stor...more
The story is set in mid nineteenth century London, and is full of colorful characters, scallawags and buffoons alike. Crighton's digressions are like little historical nuggets. They enlighten, inform and entertain. The stor...more
Jon and I are reading this one together and it's such fun! I love historical novels, and this one is written very well using all the court documents and tons of research of the Victorian times by Michael Crichton. He does a fabulous job meshing all of this together into an interesting novel. I would probably have to rate this PG-13, b/c he writes a bit about very young girls as prostitutes, which was a big part of those days, apparently. Jon has read some and I assume has edited it for my ears,...more
I am a big fan of Michael Crichton's fantasy and sci-fi novels. 'Timeline' is a personal favorite and 'Congo' was one of my earliest acquaintances with novels. So when I came across 'The Great Train Robbery' in Goodreads, I was naturally excited.
I really liked the book a lot. It was more or less along
the same lines as the Ocean's series: witty, funny, intelligent and quite pacy. Like Ocean's, it is largely about a heist. The characters were pleasant and likeable. The anatomy of the heist was bri...more
I really liked the book a lot. It was more or less along
the same lines as the Ocean's series: witty, funny, intelligent and quite pacy. Like Ocean's, it is largely about a heist. The characters were pleasant and likeable. The anatomy of the heist was bri...more
I actually read this several times as a teen, and then when independent was thrilled by each new book by Crichton - until Rising Sun. I don't like thrillers, but I do like learning things.
Not as interesting as one might suppose. A pretty straightforward tale of the planning, execution and aftermath of the titular heist. Crichton takes the basic facts of the case, substitutes the characters for some right out of Central Casting and tacks on a few movie-friendly moments (the daring key robbery that has to be carried out in 64 seconds, the walk on top of the train). Through it all, the characters use "authentic british criminal slang" for authenticity, a gag that gets tiresome quick...more
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| Sociology in this book | 6 | 43 | Mar 14, 2013 07:32am | |
| THE LISTS: Novel Update | 3 | 8 | Nov 05, 2011 12:43pm |
Michael Crichton (1942–2008) was one of the most successful novelists of his generation, admired for his meticulous scientific research and fast-paced narrative. He graduated summa cum laude and earned his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1969. His first novel, Odds On (1966), was written under the pseudonym John Lange and was followed by seven more Lange novels. He also wrote as Michael Douglas...more
More about Michael Crichton...
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“Having wallowed in a delightful orgy of anti-French sentiment, having deplored and applauded the villains themselves, having relished the foibles of bankers, railwaymen, diplomats, and police, the public was now ready to see its faith restored in the basic soundness of banks, railroads, government, and police.”
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