The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century

I suspect it is no accident that Kirk Wallace Johnson has written this remarkable book which centers of the work of yet another Wallace—-A.R. Wallace stayed in the Malay Archipelago methodically capturing, separating, bagging and bottling specimens—-even all 39 birds of Paradise. He had plenty of time to think when he was wrapped in a blanket in 90 degree heat seating with malaria: what causes species to differentiate? Why do some endure and others do not? Deciding that with every generation change, inferior species would die off and superior ones would emerge with strength, Wallace should be remembered at least on an equal par with Charles Darwin. Perhaps the only difference is that Darwin was in London and had access to the press and Wallace did not. They did communicate by letter, but it was Wallace who bagged and boxed 310 mammals, 100, reptiles, 7,500 shells, 13,100 moths and butterflies, 83,200 beetles, and 13,400 other insects. But the greatest highlight of all his collection was for him the 8,050 birds he captured and shipped to his London agent. And while he was doing al that (over a period of about 8 years), in 1868 Walter Rothschild was born into a family credited with inventing modern banking and funding the Suez Canal. When he was four, his family moved to Tring Park with a mansion and 600 acres. When wee Walter discovers a construction worker-cum-taxidermist, Walter tells his parents that he wants to make a museum and Mr. Minall is going to help him look after it. When he was 21, his father built him that museum, realizing that his son had by that time collected 46,000 specimens. Senior Rothschild became disenchanted with son Walter and eventually cut his son out of his will, but Walter confessed to a family member that his father was right and that he, Walter, wasn’t good with money.In addition to natural history entrepreneurs Wallace and Rothschild, women’s fashion began an obsession with exotic feathers sometimes attributed to Marie Antionette’s sticking a diamond-encrusted egret feather into her hair, and not till the late l800’s would this obsession with feathers would subside. Largely due to a more enlightened view that slaughtering birds for fashion was unkind, Mary Thatcher, Mary Williamson, and a couple of Bostonians, Harriet Lawrence Hemenway and Minna Hall gave teas and educated others about the cruelty of wearing features (later this became the beginning of the Audubon Society). Feathers in women’s hats declined, but feathers as salmon fly-tying art emerged with strength, and into this latter endeavor comes music student and home schooled graduate Edwin Rist. In October of 2007, Rist finds himself in London near the Natural History Museum and he posts his photos documenting his visit there on Facebook. His obsession brings him closer to the Bristol Fly Dressers’ Guild and found himself contemplating how “a life without tying is fairly harsh.” But, “having a fortune in feathers confiscated by customs would be worse.”And so, the answer? A heist on the Tring Museum clearly. Author Kirk Wallace Johnson describes Rist’s initial visit to the Tring as akin to being in the vault at Fort Knox where gold buillion is stored: “At some point, the value becomes incomprehensible.” Rist photographed the Tring birds and fixed on the creative potential for fish fly work which he had been pursuing for five years. And the story of how he manages that and the subsequent web of feather and fly distribution and his capture is the tale of this book. Johnson is part detective, part historian, and a very able writer. I found myself thinking that Johnson had a deep and profound understanding of Rist because Johnson himself became obsessed. But his obsession was about the mystery which, it seemed to me, he had a primary role in solving. He’s an able writer, well published in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. I look forward to his next work.

Summary: an engrossing and obsessive book about a true crime involving stealing hundreds of priceless dead birds.The good: meticulously researched and extremely well written. I could not put this book down and will have a difficult time getting it out of my head. Very intriguing and very informative. This is an area I knew nothing about and found myself continuously looking up people, facts, and other details from this book. Interesting characters, quick plot, an absolutely bizarre crime, and meticulous research all make this book great.The bad: the first 150 pages are very fast paced and filled with background information leading up the verdict of them crime and then changes pace dramatically. The last part of the book were not as intense and a bit slower overall. It also felt like there was no real conclusion. Though that is the case and this is all true, I wish there was some follow up or at least a summary to tie everything together. It seemed to end quite abruptly.Overall: recommend this to all. A totally engrossing and meticulously researched true story of one of the most bizarre crimes I have ever heard of. Loved it.

I'm not a book expert but this is a good book. I enjoyed the story of fly fishing and tying that inspired the whole story. If you don't know fly fishing or tying you will still enjoy this book.

“The Feather Thief” is a good book, well written, could have been great if only the facts had cooperated. This is a whodunit where the who is discovered after 125 pages or so, then the next 200 are a whydunit, and we don’t care all that much.The author was active in first solving the crime and then in tracking down the thieves. He was much more involved than Truman Capote was in “In Cold Blood.” Capote though got his story, his narrative ended in hangings for the criminals, and thus his patience was rewarded. This author has much less luck with the story, it just won’t end cleanly and dramatically.Both books move along briskly and use novel techniques to tell a non-fiction story. The settings and characters for both are unusual and compelling. Both authors get wrapped up in both their stories and the fate of their villans. Also for our feather criminals, they fail to deliver dramatic falls for themselves, leaving only a dramatic fail in their wake.I give it four stars, could have been three, but I enjoyed the way the author told the first half of the story, had that continued it would have been five.

A great heist book! Unbelievable, almost. A fun history of birds and feathers embedded in a great read. Isn’t there something for everyone?

A fascinating book - I learned so much about the history of Wallace and his searching for birds in the 1800’s. Then more about fly fishing. And then about the thief of feathers and skins in England. And the court system in England. To be honest I could not put I down.

Bought this as a gift. The story is amazing.

‘The Feather Thief’ was such a unique and fascinating read. During the early part of the book,I found the history very interesting….but couldn’t figure out where it was leading…. It then became very interesting on so many scientific levels. Once the story changed to first person,it was so intriguing I couldn’t put it down. This book was read as the book of the month for my book group. I knew nothing about it beforehand, so it was a pleasant surprise. I have since spent time on the nternet on various URLs mentioned. So interesting and educational. Highly recommend.

A fascinating true story that reads like a mystery novel and is part of the history of bird's extinction and survival through adversity. Absolutely mesmerizing! A must for all bird lovers.

The hidden world of fly-tying is disclosed.Interesting right from the start.Author takes you to a tour of all the exotic birds in the world.

A fascinating, addicting story. An excellent read

This is an unusual but fascinating book and a great read. Two obsessives are involved - the thief of the title and the author. It tells the story of Edwin Rist, a talented flautist and student at the Royal Academy of Music. But Rist was also an obsessive (and very good) fishing fly tier. We are introduced to an extraordinary underworld of the fly tying community as well as tangential background about 19th century pioneers who collected tropical bird skins and the Victorian fascination with exotic bird feathers for fashion (largely hats). Classic trout and salmon flies require feathers - particularly exotic tropical bird feathers. Such feathers command high prices on eBay and fly tying forums, although many of these belong to protected species and cannot legally be traded.In Tring (of all places) there is the ornithological collection of the Natural History Museum. Rist by subterfuge arranged a visit there and then planned a daring crime. After a concert he gathered together his tools - latex gloves, glass cutter (purchased from Amazon) etc and got the train from Euston to Tring. He climbed a wall, smashed a window and found himself in Aladdin’s cave. He managed to get a wheelie suitcase in the window and stuffed it with literally hundreds of exotic colourful bird skins with their feathers. He managed to get out with this haul and got the train back to London. For a month he made thousands (ostensibly to buy a new flute) selling feathers and complete bird skins to the fly tying internet community. After a month or so a prospective purchaser was suspicious and contacted the police. When the police called on Rist he immediately confessed, handed over his remaining bird skins and was arrested. As he had confessed, and the facts were not in dispute, all the court had to decide was the sentence. In due course the judge gave him a twelve month sentence - suspended because of his Asperger’s.Our author is the second obsessive. He was an American veteran of the Iraq war who had PTSD. As part of his therapy he tried fly fishing. Whilst fishing in New Mexico his tutor told him the story of Rist. He was fascinated by this and determined to find out more. The result is this book. He eventually tracked down Rist and had an interview with him. We are left to doubt whether he ever did have Asperger’s. He seemed to know the answers to give the psychologist to get the diagnosis! Johnson was also obsessed with tracking down the hundred or so skins which were still missing. Here he had limited success but he did meet several people who (although perhaps not co-conspirators) were also involved in the heist. This is in many ways a bizarre book but is well written and a great quick read. Enjoy!

Loved this book . It was so interesting and based on a true story that was truly amazing . You will learn a lot from this fascinating story . Highly recommend