Fifty years ago yesterday was the UK's Great Train Robbery. As I listened to CBC Radio One's fascinating recounting of this this infamous event, I recalled that train robberies have inspired many great books and films. Here are but a few for your consideration. All Aboard!
Signal Red: a novel based on the Great Train Robbery (M)
by Robert Ryan
"8th August 1963: A team of
criminals, led by a charismatic mastermind, commit a crime that will
shock the nation - the great train robbery. In the early hours of the
morning, the gang hold up the Royal Mail train en route to London,
knocking the driver unconscious and escaping with millions. Angered by
the sheer scale of the crime and under serious political pressure, the
police are desperate to catch the thieves. As the men struggle to
conceal their haul and huge quantities of money are discovered in
forests and phone boxes, Scotland Yard determine to track them down, one
by one, by fair means or foul...This fictionalized account of one of
the most infamous true crimes of all times tells the thrilling story of
one incredible robbery and fifteen men who risked it all for fame, fast
cars, and more money than they could handle." - PublisherThe Great Train Robbery (M)
by Michael Crichton
"Crichton now takes us to Victorian England in this
excellent adaptation of his 1975 novel. We follow charming Edward Pierce
in 1955 as he moves between England's aristocrats and its criminal
classes, planning the theft of a fortune in gold from a train. The story
is well paced, with Simon Prebble's outstanding reading, and contains a
number of interesting characters, from bankers to safecrackers,
pickpockets, prostitutes, and petty thieves. Numerous plot twists hold
the listener's interest nicely, while recounting Pierce's 1856 trial
offers many humorous moments. Crichton includes extensive commentary on
Victorian society, which nicely frames the tale and helps one understand
the historical period. A first-class production;" - Library JournalAlso consider the film adaptation directed by Crichton and starring Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland
The James Boys : a novel account of four desperate brothers (M)
by Richard Liebmann-Smith
"In 1876, the No. 4 Missouri Pacific Express pulls out of Kansas City for
St. Louis. Among those on board is Henry James, the erudite and
esteemed novelist and brother of the brilliant philosopher William
James. Trying his hand at travel writing, Henry is beset, as ever, by
hypochondria--in the form, in this case, of dire digestive woes.
Suddenly the train is stopped and robbed--and not just by any bandits
but by the legendary James Gang. Taken hostage by the brigands, Henry
realizes to his unspeakable horror that "Jesse" and "Frank" are in fact
Rob and Wilky, his long-lost brothers, who had disappeared during the
Civil War and been presumed dead for more than a decade." - PublisherThe Railway Detective (M)
by Edward Marston
With No Remorse (M)
by Cindy Gerard
"Black Ops, Inc. operative Luke – Doc Holliday – Colter is taking some
much needed down-time, making his way across the Peruvian Andes via
rail, when banditos attack the moving train in the midnight hours. It
soon becomes apparent that robbery is not their intent but the abduction
of super model Valentina, who is traveling incognito while recovering
from a public scandal involving her ex-husband, high profile US Senator,
Marcus Chamberlin. Luke whisks Valentina off the train in a daring
escape but the two of them become the targets of a relentless manhunt..." -Publisher
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