Thieves

<p><strong>THIEVES: A Global History of Outlaws Pirates and the Art of Taking</strong></p><p>Every civilization is built on a locked door-and a thief determined to pick it.<br>From the shadowy grave robbers of ancient Mesopotamia to the cutthroat pirates of the Nile and the digital hackers of today <em>Thieves</em> drags you through the blood-soaked gold-dusted underbelly of history where every lock law and empire is a dare waiting to be answered.</p><p>D. M. Gross shatters the romantic myths and delivers a panoramic unsentimental tour of the world's greatest takers-bandit kings pirate queens black marketeers master smugglers and the invisible millions who turned necessity rebellion or greed into an art form.<br>Here theft is not a crime on the margins but the engine that shapes economies redraws borders and forces rulers to rewrite the rules again and again.<br>With sharp wit and relentless honesty this book reveals the eternal arms race between the ones who take and the ones who try-and fail-to stop them.</p><p>Forget fairy tales. This is the true story of the world's oldest profession told with all the grit genius and nerve it deserves.</p>