The Book Thief: The True Crimes of Daniel Spiegelman
"[F]or those concerned with the protection of our cultural heritage from people like Spiegelman, McDade has written a book well worth reading."-PhiloBiblos (blog)"As a librarian/lawyer, McDade is uniquely qualified to relate the saga of a larcenous bibliophile who stole some $18 million of rare books and letters from Columbia U.'s library in the spring of 1994. Drawing on interviews with people involved in the story, but purposely excluding Spiegelman, he chronicles not only the events but also the court's groundbreaking application of federal sentencing guidelines to rare and unique elements of our cultural heritage. (They really threw the book at him!)"-Reference & Research Book News"McDades book is the first book-length account of a book thief. A librarian and a lawyer, McDade focuses on rare book thefts and the legal trials that follow. What holds McDades attention in the Spiegelman case is Judge Kaplans unique, groundbreaking sentencing.The Book Thiefreads like a thriller with its suspenseful, gripping narrative of how Spiegelman planned and executed the theft. Columbias Butler library is equipped with high tech security systems, and yet Spiegelman broke in. Like all old libraries, McDade tells us, Columbias Butler also had one small security flaw. And one flaw was enough. Im not going to say what it was or mention anything more about how Spiegelman did it. Its a fascinating tale, and one that you should discover for yourself in the book….[t]he most intriguing, compelling, satisfying book about books published in a long, long time."-The Hindu"This non-fictional account of DS' crime, his capture, his trial, his sentencing, escape, re-capture, re-sentencing makes for some very interesting reading. The author seems to wander far afield, at times, leaving the reader initially wondering what possible link the information has with the primary subject.but, in every case, the relevance is revealed.and the whole makes for a very good story. Recommended reading. some of the testimony by Jean Ashton (of Columbia's RBML), regarding the value of stolen items (and the damage caused), is extremely interesting to those involved in the rare book/manuscript world."-RMABA