A review by marginaliant
The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps by Michael Blanding

3.0

I love true crime books but especially art and property crimes in which no one dies so I feel less bad about reading it and loving it as much as I do. Blanding does his best to tell the story of Forbes Smiley, an antique map dealer who stole maps from archives to dig himself out of financial straits, all while Smiley refused to grant him interviews. It gives an excellent portrait of the map trait and about what makes some maps more valuable than others. This book really needed more from Smiley, so maybe it could have been put off a few years. Other than that, it was a fun title.