{"product_id":"the-butterfly-thief","title":"The Butterfly Thief","description":"Condition: BRAND NEW\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781761381478\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Trade paperback (UK)\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2025\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Scribe Publications\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDescription:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe story of the most audacious serial heist in the history of Australia's museums - and the British gentleman adventurer who pulled it off and got away with it - in a scientific true crime caper stretching around the globe.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn January 1947, a chance discovery rocked the world of natural science- over 3,000 rare and precious specimens of butterflies had vanished from Australia's most prestigious museums in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Alarmingly, the missing insects included many priceless 'holotypes' - the first specimen of a given species to be identified, against which all others are compared.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the other side of the world, New Scotland Yard descended on a country house in Surrey, where they found a trove of over 40,000 butterfly specimens. The culprit was Colin Wyatt, a Cambridge-educated ski champion, mountaineer, wartime camouflager, artist, and amateur naturalist whose high-flying exploits cut a path from the Alps of Europe to a London court room to a final expedition to the jungles of Guatemala.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on unpublished case files, dossiers, and private archives, \u003ci\u003eThe Butterfly Thief\u003c\/i\u003e pieces together Wyatt's enigmatic life story and his decades-long impact on the world of natural history. Along the way, award-winning journalist Walter Marsh reveals a deeper history of gentleman explorers, scoundrels, and grave-robbers that begs an uncomfortable but vital question- What if Western museums were crime scenes all along?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003ci\u003eThe Butterfly Thief\u003c\/i\u003e is the most delicate of books that, like its insect namesake, unfurls its brilliance slowly and then all at once. Walter Ma","brand":"RANDOM HOUSE","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":41502798676101,"sku":"PR397685","price":61.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/0213\/3637\/files\/image_TNXB6NN29WKI.jpg?v=1769500372","url":"https:\/\/smartfoxbooks.co.nz\/products\/the-butterfly-thief","provider":"Smartfox Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}