The great Chinese art heist: imperialism, organized crime, and the hidden story of China's stolen artistic treasures

Uittreksel

"For the past decade, the art world has been rocked by a series of very costly and elaborately planned heists at major museums. The first took place the night of August 6, 2010 at the Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden — the official residence of the Swedish Royal family. Others in France, Great Britain and other countries in Europe followed. In Norway, masked men rappelled down from a glass ceiling into the prestigious Kode Museum on Bergen's picturesque central square, three blocks from police headquarters. In all of these break-ins, the thieves made away with ancient Chinese artifacts, most of which were originally displayed in the spectacular Old Summer Palace outside of Beijing nearly two centuries ago. In The Great Chinese Art Heist, bestselling author Ralph Pezzullo takes us back to the Second Opium War and the sacking of Old Summer Palace by French and British troops in 1860 and connects it to the current wave of heists that seem right out of a Mission: Impossible movie. Comprehensive, balanced, entertaining, and expertly balancing diverse cultural and political perspectives, Pezzullo links these looted artifacts and roots of colonialism to today's billionaires and triad gangs, international banks and drug cartels. The wounds of the past, which is still called the 'Century of Humiliation' in China, remain raw." -- Provided by publisher.

Inhoud

Introduction -- Stockholm 2010 -- The Old Summer Palace, Beijing -- The Opium Wars -- KODE Museum, Bergen, Norway -- The century of humiliation -- Château de Fontainebleu -- Empress Cixi -- The triads -- Sun Yat-sen -- Repatriation -- The Chinese Civil War -- The seventh Earl of Elgin -- Mao Zedong -- Antiquities Trafficking Unit -- Deng Xiaoping -- China Poly Group -- Unrestricted warfare -- The break-ins continue.