The Gentlemen of 16 July by Rene Louis Maurice and Ken Follett : a book review by Endre Barath, a Beverly Hills Realtor

The Gentlemen of 16 July by Rene Louis Maurice and Ken Follett

a book review by Endre Barath, a Beverly Hills Realtor

Yet another book that has been on my bookshelf for decades, a small hardcover book just patiently waiting for me to pick up; interestingly enough, it is a nonfiction, published in 1978.  I am a proud owner of a first edition, signed by none other than Ken Follett.

As with any of Ken Follett’s books, this one is also a page turner.  It is the story of the French criminal bank robber, Albert Spaggiari, who spent a couple of months digging a tunnel underneath the “impregnable” vault of the Societe General Bank of Nice in France. The year is 1976, and Albert Spaggiari did end up getting arrested after he and his gang of thieves stole about 100 million francs worth of valuables from the bank. If you can imagine, however, during his trial he somehow distracted the judge and jumped out of a window and fled on a waiting motorcycle. Spaggiari was never again caught and thus died a free man – or should I say a rich fugitive!

As I previously mentioned, the authors wrote the book so it read as a page turner fiction novel. Without giving away the secret in the Epilogue, the authors do mention that in April 1977 they received a postcard from Spaggiari that read simply: Bien le bonjour d’Albert!   In spite of there having been a rumor floating around that Spaggiari had been murdered, the postcard included a picture of himself wearing a coat and a beret to hide his appearance.

By the way, the co-author name Rene Louis Maurice is a pseudonym for three French journalists who did not want their names identified; Ken Follett, of course, was an already established author of three previous books at the time this book was published (The Eye of the Needle, Triple and The Key to Rebecca).

As a postscript, I read that Albert Spaggiari died on June 10th, 1989  due to lung cancer at the age of 56. Sadly, his body was found by his mother in front of her home in France as he would clandestinely visit her while mainly living out his life in Argentina.  If you’re looking for a fun fast-paced read for a summer weekend, this one fits the bill and comes in at under 170 pages.

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