A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue, Jobb - B+

              "Arthur Barry was one of the most brazen and successful jewel thieves in history." He was an impostor, con man, and cat burglar who robbed throughout metropolitan New York, from a  Rockefeller to many, many others. 

              He was born into a large family in Worcester in 1896. By the time he was 13, he was a full time criminal. He went to jail at 17, was paroled to work in a Remington factory, and joined the army. He was a combat medic who served with distinction and bravery in France. He returned to the US in the summer of 1919 and decided to become a jewel thief. His first job netted $2,500, twice the annual wages of a laborer. A string of successful robberies in Yonkers and Ardsley added to his haul. He expanded his pursuits to Long Isand's north shore. The key to Barry's success was preparation. He studied the social pages, went to endless public places where well-dressed ladies flaunted their jewelry, and diligently studied their homes and habits. His preferred time to strike was during dinner. By the middle of the 1920's, he was stealing jewelry worth $500,000 per year and making $100,000. He also became "an expert at crashing Long Island's most exclusive parties." He even had the Prince of Wales join him on a night spent clubbing in Manhattan. Indeed, he stole $130,000 of Edwina Mountbatten's jewelry while she and Louis were in the US with the prince. He once stole a $700,000 necklace at the Plaza. 

           At this stage, Barry was considering retiring, and those on his trail now included a private detective, insurance companies, and the Nassau County police. Someone, never identified, tipped the police to his whereabouts and he was arrested getting off a LIRR train. He confessed in order to protect his wife, who knew noting about his work. A judge in Mineola sentenced him to 25 years at hard labor. He was thirty when he entered Sing Sing. Two years later, he was moved further upstate to Auburn. Soon, he broke out, went to Manhattan, and hid with his wife's assistance. They moved to Newark and he kept out of the public eye. For the next few years, every theft in New York was attributed to him, and in 1933, it was surmised by some that Barry and his wife, Anna, were the Lindbergh baby kidnappers. His luck eventually ran out, the Newark police arrested him, and returned him to Auburn. Seven years more were added to his sentence. For the next four years, he was in solitary confinement. He was sent to Attica, then a new prison and one considered a "prisoner's paradise." His wife died in 1940. He was paroled in 1949, and moved in with a sister in Worcester. He went to work in a diner. His fame attracted writers and he even appeared on television, interviewed by Mike Wallace, and later appeared on the Tonight Show. He spent his remaining years doting on the younger members of his extended family and serving the veterans of Worcester. He died in 1981.