The Great Dinosaur Robbery

by David Forrest

The Great Dinosaur Robbery is a now out-of-print book released in 1970 and written by David Eliades and Robert Forrest Webb under the pseudonym of David Forrest. The book was later the basis for the 1975 film One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing.

The book is set in New York City in the 1970s, and follows attempts by a group of British nannies who discover that a microdot containing Chinese military secrets that they believe to be vital to the survival of the British Empire has been hidden in a skeleton in the American Museum of Natural History. They cannot find the message, so contrive to steal the entire skeleton and mail it to the Queen. The Chinese agents who hope to retrieve the message, and the Americans searching for the missing dinosaur, play important roles.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1970

About the author

David Forrest is a pen-name used by English novelists Robert Forrest-Webb and David Eliades to write four books, And to My Nephew Albert I Leave the Island What I Won off Fatty Hagan in a Poker Game (1969), The Great Dinosaur Robbery (1970), After Me, the Deluge (1972), and The Undertaker's Dozen (1974).

These books featured tight plotlines and riotous humor, touching at the same time some serious topics: The Great Dinosaur Robbery and Nephew deal with the Cold War, After Me, the Deluge with religion.

- from Wikipedia

Reviews

[gufo_bufo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riletto mille volte, sempre con grande divertimento, perduto nelle vicende della vita, citato a memoria in famiglia.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Great Dinosaur Robbery by David Forrest (1970) reads like it was written with a movie deal in mind. Which is convenient because Disney made a movie from the book (One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing) in 1975. I've never seen this particular Disney film with Helen Hayes and Peter Ustinov, but the novel's plot reminds a great deal of another Disney film, The North Street Irregulars. As in Irregulars, we have a group of ladies (middle-aged church parishioners in Irregulars and various-aged British-born nannies in Robbery) taking on a group of down-right baddies.

In the records of crime there have been many great robberies--The Great Train Robbery, for instance--but never has there been a robbery like the The Great Dinosaur Robbery. Five very British nannies who are taking care of their charges in New York City find themselves plotting the biggest heist of them all...the lifting of a 200,000,000-old brontosaurus skeleton from the American Museum. It all begins when one of Nanny Hettie MacPhish's charges falls dead at her feet in the middle of the museum. His last words:

W-W-World security...avoid t-t-total destruction...m-m-museum...the m-m-message..microdot...room th-thirteen...largest beast...don't t-t-trust anyone...Get it to...to...G-G-God save the Q-Q-Queen.

After leaving the nursery, Lord Quincey de Bapeau Charmaine-Bott had become a very important person indeed...a member of the British Foreign Office and the most reliable, trustworthy, discreet, and fearless wearer of the Silver Greyhound, the insignia of the Queen's Couriers.

The 25th Earl carried word of a top-secret plot by the Red Chinese under Mao Tse-tung to conquer England (and the rest of the world) using the Great Leap Downward plan. He had intended to pass the information (via microdot) on to his contact under guise as a British tourist. But his fellow Courier had not arrived and Mao Tse-tung's minions had pursued him through the museum. In a moment's respite from the gang, the British lord had stashed the secret in one of the museum's displays before collapsing at his former Nanny's feet. It's up to Nanny Hettie and her band of loyal caregivers to find the microdot before England's enemies. But who would have thought it would require stealing an entire dinosaur?

This is a very silly--but fun--take on the caper crime. I mean, after all, can you really call it a crime when a bunch of British nannies are stealing a whole dinosaur in the name of Queen and Country? Not terribly realistic and definitely not a puzzle plot, but I did enjoy myself. I'm pretty sure the Disney movie has toned it down though--there are a few adult scenes (one of the nannies has a lover!) and informational bits that I just can't see making it into a 1975 Disney film. Park your realism expectations at the front cover and settle in for a fun ride with Nanny Hettie and company....

"You can drive a lorry, Nanny Emily?"
"I drove a caterpillar tractor during the war..."
"We heard about that," said Hettie. "At the Land Army Club they said it was the longest furrow ever ploughed....You nearly cut of Devon and Cornwall"

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Ann aka Iftcan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining book about the theft of a dinosaur from a museum. The theft is used as a cover for spies. The sleuths in this book are a group of English nannies. Light amusing tale that takes a dig at the Cold War and its mentality.

Made into a wonderful movie starring the always wonderful Helen Hayes.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 1 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1417328.html#cutid3

The original book on which the Disney film was based is set in New York, not London, in the contemporary early 1970s, so the Chinese are Maoists rather than followers of a warlord. Also the dinosaur gets dismantled by the nannies overnight rather than driven off on the back of the truck; and, most crucially setting the tone for the book, in the opening scene the Earl of Hastings is killed by his own cyanide capsule when his ex-nanny belts him across the face, rather than being held captive for most of the story like Lord Southmere in the film. The book concentrates much more on the work of the police investigators of the dinosaur theft, a special team of stereotypes brought together to fight international organised crime. One of the nannies is shagging her employer, while another is allergic to men; this is supposed to be funny, as are the freqent citations of Mao by the Chinese and their eventual fate (sent to Taiwan, where they will probably be executed). One or two jokes from the book made it into the film, but really this is for grownups who aren't looking for anything very worthwhile.

[Jonathan Palfrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is rather unlike the previous novel by this author (in fact a pair of authors), but it is similar in being amusing light fiction set in the context of the Cold War. This time, instead of rival armed forces, we get rival spies from different countries.

The setting is the city of New York in the United States of America, but the central characters are five British nannies of different ages, who have their own peculiar and patriotic motive to steal the skeleton of a brontosaurus from the American Museum of Natural History.

I saw a comment somewhere that this novel resembles an Ealing comedy, and I agree that it has something of that spirit. The story is ridiculous but quite fun, and all nationalities involved are made fun of in a spirit of fairness—although the Chinese spies seem to suffer most.

[ozgurluk kurdu · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Forrest tarafından kaleme alınan ve dilimize Canavar Hırsızları olarak çevrilen bu kitapta ne ararsanız var. İngiliz dadılar, kraliyet aileleri, Mao yanlısı ajanlar... Bir müze, bir dinozor iskeleti ve planlı bir hırsızlık. Ama maalesef ki çevirisi o kadar kötü ki, okumakta çok zorlandım. Çevirisi daha iyi olsa daha akıcı bir kitap olabilirmiş...

Film tadında bir kitap okumak isterseniz bir göz atabilirsiniz, tabii sahaflarda bulabilirseniz. Ama yok uğraşmam derseniz Disney yapımı bir de filmi mevcutmuş. Sanıyorum ki o kitaptan daha keyiflidir.

[Ian Cann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine, a pleasant distraction and not too much more - Disney had the right idea stripping this for parts and rearranging them for One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (No Ugly Quarrel please) - but still some good moments so there we are really.

[gufo_bufo · Rating 5 out of 5]

In italiano, "Il furto del grande dinosauro".

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Cold War-era espionage caper that is filled with juvenile humor, cringeworthy racial stereotypes, inept spies, dinosaur bones, and strict British nannies. And yet, I actually enjoyed it! The following facts should tell you everything you need to know about the type of humor in this book. There is a German spy named Adolf Krautbukket. There is a Red Chinese spy named Fat Choy. The federal agency charged with investigating the robbery has the acronym of F.A.R.T.. One of the key pieces of evidence for said investigation is a nipple print. Definitely dated, oversexed, and juvenile, but overall a fun read. If you like “The Mouse that Roared” by Leonard Wibberley, you’ll probably like this, too.

[LauraT · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You can drive a lorry, Nanny Emily?" [...]"I drove a caterpillar tractor during the war [...]" "We heard about that," said Hettie. "At the Land Army Club they said it was the longest furrow ever pluoghed. [...] You nearly cut of Devon and Cornwall"
E non dico altro.
Per te Laura!!!

[Selandor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro divertido que retrata la época de la guerra fría y satiriza a las agencias de inteligencia y espionaje de todo el mundo.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the odder titles to become a Disney movie.

[Estelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and very funny, perfect for a light reading session.