The Map Thief by Michael Blanding

The Map Thief by Michael Blanding

Once considered a respectable rare-map dealer, E. Forbes Smiley made millions and was highly esteemed for his knowledge; until he was arrested for slipping maps out of books in the Yale University library. Though pieces of the story have been told before, Blanding is the first reporter to gain access to Smiley himself after he'd gone silent. Although Smiley swears he has admitted to all of the maps he stole, libraries claim he stole hundreds more, and offer evidence to prove it. Now, through a series of exclusive interviews, Blanding teases out the whole story.

Michael Blanding and Alexandra Hall met working five feet from each other as editors at Boston Magazine, where Alex covered food and fashion and Michael wrote about politics and crime. Since then, they've traveled the world together, dodging bicycles on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, breaking an axle on a safari in South Africa, and closing out nightclubs in Reykjavik, Paris, and Buenos Aires (not an easy feat!). But wherever their travels have taken them, they've always loved returning to New England for its mix of natural beauty and enlightened culture. Michael and Alex pride themselves on having driven, hiked, canoed, or sailed every corner of the six-state region, ferreting out underrated restaurants, backwoods museums, and hidden villages along the way.

Alex grew up on Boston's South Shore and studied at Wheaton College and Le Cordon Bleu Institute in Paris. After years as a senior editor for both Boston Magazine and dailycandy.com, she became creator and editor of Fashion Boston magazine at The Boston Globe. Her most recent venture is the launch of her own digital lifestyle magazine, COUP Boston. Michael grew up west of Boston, attended Williams College, and was a staff writer and editor at Boston Magazine for five years. Now a freelance magazine writer, he has also taught journalism at Emerson College, Northeastern University, and Tufts University. He recently published his first book of investigative non-fiction, The Coke Machine: The Dirty Truth Behind the World's Favorite Soft Drink, and is currently at work on a true crime book called The Map Thief that will be published in 2013.

Together, Alex and Michael have written for publications including Conde Nast Traveler, Bon Appetit, Town & Country Travel, New England Travel, Yankee, Boston Magazine, Elle Decor, Continental, Business Traveler, The Nation, The New Republic, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and AlterNet. They were married on the rustic shores of Maine's Moosehead Lake, where Michael wore a kilt and Alex donned red heels and white feathers. They now live in the Boston suburb of Brookline with their cat, Isabella, and their seven-year-old son Zachary and six-year-old daughter Cleo, who have fast become two of the best-traveled kids in the world.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781592408177
ISBN 10	1592408176
Title	The Map Thief
Author	Michael Blanding
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Penguin Putnam Inc
Year published	2014-07-17
Number of pages	302
Prizes	Commended for Chautauqua Prize 2015
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.