A note to readers -- Prologue: Prince charming -- I: 'A grand life'. The courier -- A 'big-timer' -- First-aid man -- The long watch -- II: The ladder burglar. Second-story man -- A simple assault -- All that glitters -- Clients -- American rifles -- III: Gentleman thief. Cosden and Mountbatten. The Plaza pearls -- The great retriever -- Nightlife plunger -- Anna Blake -- IV: Prince of thieves. A scholarly cop -- The phantom -- 'Well-mannered bandits' -- The Rockefeller gems -- 'That slender rioutous island' -- The masterpiece -- V: The reckoning. The trap -- Owning up -- Only high-class work -- Up the river -- Sing sing -- VI: The fugitive. Breakout -- Refuge -- Mr. and Mrs. Toner -- The eaglet -- VII: A most dangerous criminal. Lindbergh suspect -- Celebrity crook - A fair trial -- 'My life of love and fear' -- VIII: Redemption. Hard time -- 'No dice' -- 'Easy come, easy go' -- An honest man -- Epilogue: Uncle Artie -- Acknowledgments -- Arthur Barry's major heists -- Notes on sources and endnotes -- Index.