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

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.