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Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures Audiobook
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(3.01) - 2,699 listener ratings
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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 twenty-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 page-turning 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 6th-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.
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"True crimes against the art world. The author recently retired from the FBI as their top undercover art theft sleuth, and he has lots of stories to tell. He points out that art theft is the #4 biggest sector in the international criminal rankings, after drugs, guns & money (I noted he didn't put any value on human trafficking) and that the romanticism of Hollywood's characterization of art thieves has nothing to do with reality at all, which, somehow, wasn't a big surprise to me at all. He proves once again that truth is stranger than fiction, as his stories are more interesting than anything Hollywood ever puts out, because all the real world ambiguity, loose ends, and politicised accidental clusterfucks that occur when you have big bureaucracies wrangling over turf wars gets in the way of simply getting the job done. A quick read, and enjoyable."
— Eric (4 out of 5 stars)
Priceless Listener Reviews
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" This book would have been better if it hadn't been so choppy and so obviously written with the intention of being sold for movie rights. The stories had such potential to be great, but the way they were written wasn't. "
— Kelly, 2/18/2014 -
" True crime and art, a great combination. A good, conversational history. I only wish they had managed to rescue the Gardner paintings. "
— G., 2/16/2014 -
" The content is interesting, even very interesting. The way he tells it is not. Not only is his writing dull, but it drove me crazy that he makes himself out to be the best thing to happen to the FBI since, well, the X-Files. (Personal opinion, of course - not everyone likes the X-Files.) But, seriously, man, bring the ego down a notch. "
— Kristi, 2/10/2014 -
" Loved it! Great story really admirable person Bob Wittman really is priceless. "
— Bobbi, 2/9/2014 -
" Very well written and interesting look at how stolen art masterpieces are ofter recovered. "
— Debra, 2/7/2014 -
" Interesting memoir about an FBI agent's work recovering stolen art work and historical artifacts. I enjoyed the combo of crime and arts. I think I would have liked it better had I known more about the artists and paintings and been able to picture the pieces of art in my mind! "
— Bethany, 12/31/2013 -
" Fascinating memoir of the life of an undercover FBI agent focuses on reclaiming stolen art. I found his stories compelling and exciting. My only complaint is that there are no pictures in the book, at least in the Kindle version. "
— Amy, 12/30/2013 -
" Very entertaining and informative book about art theft. "
— Susan, 12/28/2013 -
" This was very interesting if you are interested in undercover schemes and repossession of stolen art. The writing was a bit stiff but on the other hand his description of the undercover operations was also gripping. "
— Heather, 12/16/2013 -
" Robert Wittman will be in State College to speak on April 7, so I was motivated to read this one. I loved the art connections and the intrigue. "
— Dotty, 12/8/2013 -
" I enjoyed this. The tales of undercover operations were entertaining, and I liked reading about the history of the artwork and the museums. Sometimes the procedural parts got dull, but really an interesting book. "
— Beth, 12/2/2013 -
" Loved the inside stories about art theft. My new secret what I want to be when I grom up job. (Finding it, not stealing it!) "
— Chris, 11/9/2013 -
" I started this book in March and finished it in August. No, it wasn't difficult. No, it wasn't bad. I just didn't really miss it when I put it down for long stretches of time. "
— Jeff, 11/5/2013 -
" Read as part of my research for book 2 in the Rewriting History series! Also used for ITALIAN ICE. Great book for information about how the FBI art squad works and useful tips on how to work undercover. Gave me more ideas for future books. "
— E.M., 4/17/2013 -
" Very interesting non-fiction (with a few tweaks to protect security) that tells about an FBI art investigator. He solved many art heists before twirling from the FBI. I learned a lot about FBI bureaucracy and how it interferes with solving crimes. "
— Robin, 3/25/2013 -
" Not the best-written book I've ever read, but the guy was an FBI agent, not a writer; it was highly entertaining! "
— Christina, 1/27/2013 -
" Pretty decent and full of information. A good vacation from the normal CIA/FBI Action books. Was a fairly quick read as well. "
— Chris, 11/27/2012 -
" Fast paced true story about one FBI agent's adventure in solving art thefts around the world. He loved his job and that makes for a great story. Wish he had solved the Gardner theft! "
— Kim, 10/30/2012 -
" Well done, shifting memoir by the former FBI art theft expert. His clear and honest stories of various projects, comeplete with backgound on the pieces he was hunting totally engaged me all the way through... "
— Patti, 10/17/2012 -
" I learned so much about art, art crimes, art thieves and the FBI. It was worth it for that. i got hooked after going to the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum and seeing the places where the stolen paintings were taken from. That theft was incredible (and still unsolved) and is a great story itself. "
— Apallant, 8/23/2012 -
" Fascinating. I'll admit, I work in museum security management, so reading this is somewhat of a "busman's holiday." Whitman (with the expert help of his coauthor) tells an entertaining story of his 20 years in the FBI's underfunded, underrecognized art theft unit. "
— Phil, 8/13/2012 -
" Kent got this from the library and I read it when he was finished. It was an interesting perspective and I learned about art heists I didn't even know had happened. But, there was a bit too much own-horn-tooting, if you know what I mean... "
— Alyson, 5/7/2012 -
" Pretty decent and full of information. A good vacation from the normal CIA/FBI Action books. Was a fairly quick read as well. "
— Chris, 5/23/2011 -
" I really enjoyed the inside look at art theft recovery. "
— Diane, 4/14/2011 -
" Reads like a thriller. Great true-life stories of undercover operations that resulted in the rescue of works of art, everything from Rembrandt paintings to Peruvian body armor to an American flag. A true international man of mystery! "
— Heather, 3/19/2011 -
" Very good nonfiction about an FBI agent that recovers stolen art. Easy read and interesting story. "
— Nate, 3/15/2011 -
" Really good book... really enjoyed it "
— Michael, 3/12/2011 -
" Really really interesting non fiction book about high end art theft. Kept me reading and learning the whole way through. "
— Sara, 2/20/2011 -
" An FBI agent spends a career undercover rescuing priceless stolen art. Well paced, well writen I'm listening to the audio book and enjoying it. "
— Karen, 2/14/2011 -
" Very interesting read. A little depressing because it looks at how bureaucratic our government agencies are, but the cases were fascinating. It was mostly a feel-good read about rescued irreplaceable pieces of culture. "
— Abigail, 2/2/2011 -
" I really liked this book especially because a lot of the story took place in the philadelphia area so it made it that much more interesting. "
— Carol, 2/1/2011 -
" A fantastic book!!! I learned not about about the life of an undercover detective, but also so much history! A real page turner. "
— Rose, 1/22/2011 -
" Dull. I skipped ahead. A lot. "
— Susan, 1/22/2011 -
" This was a quick, fun read. It's about a guy who built up the FBI's art crimes division. He covers the most interesting museum heists in US history and details how they chased the criminals down. "
— Mandy, 1/22/2011 -
" THe stories were great.. the writing not stellar, but what do you expect from a former fbi agent. "
— G, 1/14/2011
About the Authors
Robert K. Wittman served as the FBI’s top investigator in cases involving art theft for twenty years. He helped recover more than $300 million worth of stolen art, resulting in the prosecution and conviction of numerous individuals. Now an art security consultant for the private sector, Wittman published his memoir Priceless in 2010 in which he recounts his career as an undercover agent.
John Shiffman is an investigative reporter for Reuters. He worked as a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer from 2003 to 2011, where he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. With former FBI agent Robert Wittman, he coauthored Priceless, a New York Times bestseller published in nine languages. John is a lawyer and lives near Washington, DC.
About Mark Deakins
Mark Deakins is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator and actor whose television appearances include Head Case, Star Trek: Voyager, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His film credits include Intervention, Star Trek: Insurrection, and The Devil’s Advocate. He wrote, directed, and produced the short film The Smith Interviews.