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A History of Heists: Bank Robbery in America
No crime is as synonymous with America as bank robbery. Though the number of bank robberies nationwide has declined, bank robbery continues to captivate the public and jeopardize the safety of banks and their employees.
In A History of Heists, Jerry Clark and Ed Palattella explore how bank robbers have influenced American culture as much as they have reflected it. Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Willie Sutton, and Patty Hearst are among the most famous figures in the history of crime in the United States. Jesse James used his training as a Confederate guerrilla to make bank robbery a political act. John Dillinger capitalized on the public’s scorn of banks during the Great Depression and became America’s first Public Enemy Number One. When she held up a bank with the leftist Symbionese Liberation Army, Patty Hearst fueled the country’s social unrest. Jerry Clark and Ed Palattella delve into the backgrounds and motivations of the robbers, and explore how they are as complex as the nation whose banks they have plundered.
But as much as the story of bank robbery in America focuses on the thieves, it is also a story of those who investigate the heists. As bank robbers became more sophisticated, so did the police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies. This captivating history shows how bank robbery shaped the modern FBI, and how it continues to cultivate America’s fascination with the noble bandits seen, rightly or wrongly, as battling unjust authority.
In A History of Heists, Jerry Clark and Ed Palattella explore how bank robbers have influenced American culture as much as they have reflected it. Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Willie Sutton, and Patty Hearst are among the most famous figures in the history of crime in the United States. Jesse James used his training as a Confederate guerrilla to make bank robbery a political act. John Dillinger capitalized on the public’s scorn of banks during the Great Depression and became America’s first Public Enemy Number One. When she held up a bank with the leftist Symbionese Liberation Army, Patty Hearst fueled the country’s social unrest. Jerry Clark and Ed Palattella delve into the backgrounds and motivations of the robbers, and explore how they are as complex as the nation whose banks they have plundered.
But as much as the story of bank robbery in America focuses on the thieves, it is also a story of those who investigate the heists. As bank robbers became more sophisticated, so did the police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies. This captivating history shows how bank robbery shaped the modern FBI, and how it continues to cultivate America’s fascination with the noble bandits seen, rightly or wrongly, as battling unjust authority.
- GenresTrue CrimeHistory
262 pages, Hardcover
First published July 9, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 17, 2022
Jerry Clark is a masterful story teller! His career spanning decades as an FBI agent is inspiring. I’ll never forget the day we took our son to Gannon University to explore the campus and in the crime lab, it was the speech by Clark that cemented our son’s decision to attend Gannon and focus his life’s work on criminal justice/law. It was then Clark’s guidance and influence as a professor and as an incredible mentor to our son that he is now becoming a lawyer. This book is a must read for anyone who loves true crime or has seen the Netflix hit about how Clark helped solve Erie’s most famous case, the Pizza Bomber murder. We can’t wait for Clark to write another hit!
March 3, 2023
A bit of a chore to read. It started out very interesting with the early days of bank robbery, but lost steam as it became more about listing robberies rather than getting into the details of robberies over the ages. On the upside, I did learn Jesse James was pro-slavery and his continued positive image says a lot about post-Reconstruction America. I just wish this got more into the nitty gritty of the process and was more focused.
August 1, 2015
Loved the title. The book was interesting, but a bit too scholarly for me.
December 15, 2015
Good read. Wel researched.
January 21, 2016
The title says it all - it's a relatively short book, highlighting the infamous cases from the Old West, the Depression, and Watergate eras.
February 8, 2016
Not my type of book but for those interested in bank robberies its a great read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews