The 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.
In 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.
On the other side of the world, New Scotland Yard descended on a country house in Surrey, where they found a haul 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.
Drawing on unpublished casefiles, dossiers, and private archives, The Butterfly Thief pieces together Wyatt’s enigmatic life story and his decades-long impact on the world of natural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?
Praise for Young Rupert:
‘Young Rupert is a vivid, revelatory portrait of a young man in a hurry. Deeply researched and sharply written, Marsh summons a vanished era to life and chronicles the intricate maneuvers and shifting character of a man whose whims and grudges have dominated, for better and worse, the media landscape for seventy years. This is an engrossing and insightful study of raw power, shameless politics, and the powers of the press.’
Patrick Mullins, author of Tiberius with a Telephone
Praise for Young Rupert:
‘A fascinating account of the early days of one of the most notoriously influential men Australia has produced. Marsh skilfully brings forgotten episodes of this country’s history to life, and reminds us just how important, cutthroat, and thrilling the news business can be.’
Sean Kelly, author of The Game
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Praise for Young Rupert:
‘[A] perceptive account of the first 30 years of media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s life … Thoroughly reported and novelistic in detail … this provides keen insight into the business magnate’s formative years.’
Publishers Weekly
Praise for Young Rupert:
‘Journalist Marsh presents meticulous reporting on the tangled fortunes of the Murdoch news business … An authoritative … history of the early Murdoch media empire.’
Library Journal
