History of Art

Featuring a rich cast of rogues and some of the world's most prestigious art institutions, this true-life thriller completely exposes the network behind the illegal trade in ancient artefacts. The story begins, as stories do in all good thrillers, with a botched robbery and a police chase. Eight Apuleian vases of the fourth century BC are discovered in the swimming pool of a German-based art smuggler. More valuable than the recovery of the vases, however, is the discovery of the smuggler's card index detailing his deals and dealers. It reveals the existence of a web of tombaroli - tomb raiders - who steal classical artefacts, and a network of dealers and smugglers who spirit them out of Italy and into the hands of wealthy collectors and museums. Peter Watson, a former investigative journalist...