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The Feather Thief

Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century

by Kirk Wallace Johnson

Cover of The Feather Thief
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On a cool June evening in 2009, twenty-year-old American flautist Edwin Rist grabbed hundreds of bird skins - some collected 150 years earlier - and escaped into the darkness. Two years later, Kirk Wallace Johnson was consumed by the strange case of the feather thief. What would possess a person to steal dead birds? This is the gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man's relentless pursuit of justice.

NATURE / Animals / BirdsBUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Museum Administration & MuseologyTheft from museumsNatural history museumsNatural History Museum (London, England)Zoological specimensTRUE CRIME / GeneralFly tyingCase studiesCriminal investigationNatural History Museum (LondonEngland)
The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson — book · Vinony