The extraordinarily captivating memoir of the remarkable jewel thief who robbed the rich and the famous while maintaining an outwardly conventional life—an astonishing and completely true story, the like of which has never before been told . . . or lived.

Bill Mason is arguably the greatest jewel thief who ever lived. During a thirty-year career he charmed his way into the inner circles of high society and stole more than $35 million worth of fabulous jewels from such celebrities as Robert Goulet, Armand Hammer, Phyllis Diller, Bob Hope, Truman Capote, Margaux Hemingway and Johnny Weissmuller—he even hit the Mafia. Along the way he seduced a high-profile Midwest socialite into leaving her prominent industrialist husband, nearly died after being shot during a robbery, tricked both Christie’s and Sotheby’s into fencing stolen goods for him and was a fugitive for five years and the object of a nationwide manhunt. Yet despite the best efforts of law enforcement authorities from several states as well as the federal government, he spent less than three years total in prison.

Shadowy, elusive and intensely private, Mason has been the subject of many magazine and newspaper features, but no journalist has ever come close to knowing the facts. Now, in his own words and with no holds barred, he reveals everything, and the real story is far more incredible than any of the reporters, detectives or FBI agents who pursued Mason ever imagined. Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief , expertly co-written by bestselling author Lee Gruenfeld, is a unique true-crime confessional.

From the Hardcover edition.

比爾•梅森（Bill Mason），美國有史以來最成功的珠寶大盜。錶麵上他是一個房地産經理人和投資商，並擁有一個正常的傢庭，但他業餘時間裏的副業也發展得相當不錯。目前他住在紐約市。

李•格倫菲爾德（Lee Gruenfeld），暢銷書作傢，齣版過小說《正義大廳》（The Halls of Justice）、《同歸於盡》（All Fall Down）。目前他住在加利福尼亞州的南部。