Under the Streets of Nice: The Bank Heist of the Century

by Ken Follett, Roddy McDowall (performer)

In 1976, Albert Spaggiari engineered the European crime of the century - a bank heist in Nice accomplished "without guns, without violence, without hate." Spaggiari and his gang of 20 men dug a 25-foot tunnel from the city's sewer system into the bank and lifted about $10 million in gold, jewelry, gems, and cash. Tracked down and captured, Spaggiari escaped from the French police by jumping out a window and onto the back of a motorcycle. Convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison, Spaggiari retired to a ranch in Argentina, but continued to taunt the European authorities for more than a decade. He died mysteriously in 1989, and the loot was never recovered. Here, authors Ken Follett ( Eye of the Needle, The Key to Rebecca) and René L. Maurice tell the breathtaking, compelling story of Spaggiari, his "sewer gang," and the most daring, outrageous theft of our time.

Genres: Crime, Nonfiction, Audiobook

Audio Cassette

Published October 1, 2002

About the author

Ken Follett is one of the world’s most successful authors. Over 170 million copies of the 36 books he has written have been sold in over 80 countries and in 33 languages.

Born on June 5th, 1949 in Cardiff, Wales, the son of a tax inspector, Ken was educated at state schools and went on to graduate from University College, London, with an Honours degree in Philosophy – later to be made a Fellow of the College in 1995.

He started his career as a reporter, first with his hometown newspaper the South Wales Echo and then with the London Evening News. Subsequently, he worked for a small London publishing house, Everest Books, eventually becoming Deputy Managing Director.

Ken’s first major success came with the publication of Eye of the Needle in 1978. A World War II thriller set in England, this book earned him the 1979 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. It remains one of Ken’s most popular books.

In 1989, Ken’s epic novel about the building of a medieval cathedral, The Pillars of the Earth, was published. It reached number one on best-seller lists everywhere and was turned into a major television series produced by Ridley Scott, which aired in 2010. World Without End, the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, proved equally popular when it was published in 2007.

Ken’s new book, The Evening and the Morning, will be published in September 2020. It is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth and is set around the year 1,000, when Kingsbridge was an Anglo-Saxon settlement threatened by Viking invaders.

Ken has been active in numerous literacy charities and was president of Dyslexia Action for ten years. He was chair of the National Year of Reading, a joint initiative between government and businesses. He is also active in many Stevenage charities and is President of the Stevenage Community Trust and Patron of Home-Start Hertfordshire.

Ken, who loves music almost as much as he loves books, is an enthusiastic bass guitar player. He lives in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, with his wife Barbara, the former Labour Member of Parliament for Stevenage. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren and two Labradors.

Reviews

[Amy Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved his novels so much I thought I'd check this out. Definitely a different style as a NF book, and there was a lot more tell than show than i have ever seen in his other books. Still good though.

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story, even if somewhat dated in its glorification of the gentlemen bank robbers and such. It dials in on portions of the story with immaculate detail, and then seemingly leaves out a lot of the details about how we got here. A bit odd, but fairly short.

[Jan Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story that I’ve never heard anything about. But I did find it disturbing that he kept saying far right wing, as if crime was far right wing. It appears to me that these men robbed the bank because they were greedy not because of their political affiliation

[Anjie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent non-fiction.

[Peggy Lesko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Such an interesting story about a mastermind. And his inadvertent errors. I hadn’t heard about that robbery before.

[Barbara Cryer · Rating 3 out of 5]

very dry but a fascinating bit of history.

[Cait McCann Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting - but still not the full story!!

[Sarah Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok for me. I hadn't actually realised this was non-fiction when I picked it out and was a true story but it was fairly interesting to learn the story of this great bank heist. Does paint the bank robbers as Robin Hood type heroes which I'm sure isn't entirely accurate and seemed to be missing a fair bit of information but it wasn't a bad book and overall was enjoyable.