This Here's a Stick-Up : The Big Bad Book of American Bank Robbery

by Swierczynski, Duane

• ISBN13: 9780028643441
• ISBN10: 0028643445
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-01
• Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc.

Summary

This Here's a Stick Up covers the history of bank robbing in America, from the days of the old West gunslingers like Jesse James and the Dalton Gang, to the infamous bank robbers of the Great Depression (Dillinger, Bonnie & Clyde, Baby Face Nelson) to the infamous Stopwatch Gang, who ripped off a series of Los Angeles banks wearing masks of U.S. presidents. (Their exploits were portrayed in the Keanu Reeves moviePoint Break). From the first heister to scribble a demand note to the first cyber criminal to pull off a heist using a laptop and a modem, this book will have it all, and then some. Author Duane Swierczynski will be utilizing information culled from actual FBI files from the 1930s up until today. Additional chapters will include a rundown of the 100 biggest hauls in bank robbing history; another chapter will feature what you should do if you find yourself in a bank that's being robbed; still another chapter will chronicle the 25 oddest bank robberies in history. The book will be written in a breezy, irreverent, and often humorous style and will have much in common with such bestsellers as The World's Dumbest Criminals and The Worst Case Scenario books.

Table of Contents

Part 1: The Men Behind the Masks
The Carpenters' Hall Heisters	3	(3)
Edward Smith	6	(1)
Edward W. Green	7	(2)
The James Gang	9	(10)
The Reno Brothers Gang	19	(4)
George Leonidas Leslie	23	(4)
Johnny Dobbs	27	(2)
The Dalton Gang	29	(5)
The Bill Doolin Gang	34	(5)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid	39	(8)
Adam Worth	47	(3)
Henry Starr	50	(7)
John Ashley and the Everglades Gang	57	(3)
Herman ``the Baron'' Lamm	60	(3)
The Newton Boys	63	(7)
Harvey Bailey	70	(8)
Wilbur Underhill	78	(5)
Bonnie and Clyde	83	(10)
John Dillinger	93	(21)
``Pretty Boy'' Floyd	114	(8)
``Baby Face'' Nelson	122	(5)
``Machine Gun'' Kelly	127	(6)
Eddie Bentz	133	(2)
The Barker-Karpis Gang	135	(8)
Willie Sutton	143	(10)
William Liebscher Jr.	153	(2)
Bobby Wilcoxson and Al Nussbaum	155	(6)
Patty Hearst	161	(4)
Stanley Rifkin	165	(5)
The Cops Who Were Robbers	170	(4)
The Boys	174	(4)
Dougherty and Conner	178	(3)
Patrick ``Paddy'' Mitchell	181	(5)
Vladimir Levin	186	(2)
``Hollywood'' Scurlock	188	(5)
The North Hollywood Gunmen	193	(4)
The Trench Coat Robbers	197	(5)
The Average Joe Bandit	202	(4)
Pritchert and Guthrie	206	(4)
The World Trade Center Heisters	210	(4)
Part 2: A Treasury of Bank Heists
How to Rob Banks in Three Easy Lessons	214	(6)
Casing the Joint	220	(11)
Shut Up and Live	231	(2)
Hurry Up! It's the Law	233	(3)
Meet the Goldilocks Bandit	236	(5)
Reservoir Dorks	241	(8)
All About the Benjamins	249	(9)
The Naked Cities	258	(4)
Let's Book 'Em	262	(6)
Repeat Offenders	268	(12)
Appendixes
The Stick-tionary	270	(3)
The Hard Numbers	273	(4)
This Here's a Bibliography	277	(3)
Index	280