Priceless

How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures

By: Robert K. Wittman, John Shiffman

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

The Wall Street Journal called him “a living legend”. The London Times dubbed him “the most famous art detective in the world”.

In Priceless, Robert K. Wittman, the founder of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, pulls back the curtain on his remarkable career for the first time, offering a real-life international thriller to rival The Thomas Crown Affair.

Rising from humble roots as the son of an antique dealer, Wittman built a 20-year career that was nothing short of extraordinary. He went undercover, usually unarmed, to catch art thieves, scammers, and black market traders in Paris and Philadelphia, Rio and Santa Fe, Miami and Madrid.

In this compelling memoir, Wittman fascinates with the stories behind his recoveries of priceless art and antiquities: The golden armor of an ancient Peruvian warrior king. The Rodin sculpture that inspired the Impressionist movement. The headdress Geronimo wore at his final pow-wow. The rare Civil War battle flag carried into battle by one of the nation’s first African-American regiments.

The breadth of Wittman’s exploits is unmatched: He traveled the world to rescue paintings by Rockwell and Rembrandt, Pissarro, Monet and Picasso, often working undercover overseas at the whim of foreign governments. Closer to home, he recovered an original copy of the Bill of Rights and cracked the scam that rocked the PBS series Antiques Roadshow.

By the FBI’s accounting, Wittman saved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art and antiquities. He says the statistic isn’t important. After all, who’s to say what is worth more - a Rembrandt self-portrait or an American flag carried into battle? They're both priceless.

The art thieves and scammers Wittman caught run the gamut from rich to poor, smart to foolish, organized criminals to desperate loners. The smuggler who brought him a looted sixth-century treasure turned out to be a high-ranking diplomat. The appraiser who stole countless heirlooms from war heroes’ descendants was a slick, aristocratic con man. The museum janitor who made off with locks of George Washington's hair just wanted to make a few extra bucks, figuring no one would miss what he’d filched.

In his final case, Wittman called on every bit of knowledge and experience in his arsenal to take on his greatest challenge: working undercover to track the vicious criminals behind what might be the most audacious art theft of all.

©2010 Robert K. Wittman (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

"More realistic than The Thomas Crown Affair, more entertaining than Catch Me If You Can. It's hard to believe one undercover FBI Agent rescued so many cultural and national treasures......but it's all true.” (Jack Garcia, former FBI undercover agent and New York Times best-selling author of Making Jack Falcone)

Excellent story

The narrator voice was fantastic and the story gripping and compelling. I'm not an art connoisseur and still I could follow and understand.

Think carefully before buying

A while back, I saw this book here while browsing, looked interesting (and I liked the sample), so dropped a credit on it; my library continues to have a long hold queue for the print version, which also influenced that decision.
I liked that the author didn't spend a long time on his background, getting to his FBI career fairly quickly. The accident that killed his first(?) partner takes up a fair amount of time, but can't really be ignored as the aftermath dragged on for years; moreover, it spurred him to take an interest in art, awaiting a resolution. The stories were interesting, though they dragged in places, partly from his tone of self-congratulation ... he's far from modest! I came away feeling that Wittman had mixed motives in putting out the book, both to emphasize the importance of art crime cases, as well as to air a grudge against the Bureau's frustrating bureaucracy (Fred-in-Boston, he's looking at you!).
Would I recommend it? Yes, but ... I don't think I'd go the audio route again. Not to knock the narration at all, but there were a couple of places I just had to fast-forward through, which rarely happens, and that was even after I'd made the decision to take a break between the two 4-hr parts. Wittman's self-important personality got in the way enough to make what should have been a great story "overall okay" I'm afraid. I wish I'd been able to skim more.

Fascinating true crime memoir

A down to earth memoir of what it is really like to work art crimes as part of the US FBI. The cases ranged from absurd and almost funny to frustrating and somewhat dangerous. Other than about 10 strong swears at the end, pretty clean.

I didnt want the story to end!

Great book filled with mystery and a look into the world of government agencies and criminal activity.

For the love of art!

Any additional comments?

A wonderful look back at one's successful life of good versus greed. An amazing story recounting recovery of important pieces of human history and culture by a few FBI individuals and then small unit devoted and passionate about importance of the art. The message: it is not about putting bad guys in jail, but being able to offer current and future generations a glance into the past. A read worth listening!

A riveting memoir of cops, robbers and art

Wittman’s story about the world of art and the underworld that deals in it will not disappoint. Not only will the reader come away with an understanding of this multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise, but also the nail-biting story how one undercover agent changed how the FBI now views and approaches the theft of art.

Great story. I love art and history so Bob’s books are tops.

The author has an eye for detail, not surprising given his work. He is a great observer and tells the finest story. Keep up the great work.

Good story

It was amazing to me how little these art treasures were valued by the FBI hierarchy and how few resources were allocated for their recovery.

Thank you for your service and story!

A captivating collage of unique cases from an undercover FBI agent who shares his incredible life as a man who cared deeply about preserving the heritage, culture, antiques, and art from around the globe. All future generations are fortunate to have had this gentlemen and his fellow agents working so diligently on saving some of history's greatest creative accomplishments. A toast to goes to him and his supportive family for all they have done!

Enjoyed this book!

I really enjoyed this book. The flow of the story kept me glued to hear more. Had all elements I like, art, history and crime solving. Would love to see it made into a movie