A Burglar's Guide to the City

An Amazon Best Book of April 2016: Geoff Manaugh has written a caper of a book. On one hand, he presents a 2,000-year history of break-ins, heists, and break-outs--a litany of unlikely, bent geniuses and their extraordinary efforts in the service of subverting and outwitting security, their energy often exceeding the requirements of straight-world success. On another, Manaugh draws on the real-world experience and acumen of criminals and security experts alike--as well as his own esoteric architectural sensibility, as seen in his fantastic BLDGBLOG--analyzing structures from the perspectives of would-be breakers-and-enterers--those possessed of a sort of spatial disorder that prevents them from using architecture like the rest of us--and those who would keep them out. Unexpected and engrossing, A Burglar’s Guide to the City will change the way you look at buildings.--Jon Foro