The Great Train Robbery co-ordinated the actions of 15 highly idiosyncratic thugs. It was supported by scores, if not hundreds, of underworld 'supply troops'…. Therefore, one way of looking at this 1963 'crime of the century' is as an expression of London working-class culture….

This is one of the fascinating sidelights of Read's account [The Train Robbers], which he collected from the eager testimonies of the robbers who are out of prison…. Alas, like so much else of possible interest, it remains a sidelight to the main but conventional drama, a brisk re-run (yet again) of How It Was Done.

I don't know how much of the narrative to believe…. [According to the robbers interviewed, the train robbery] was financed by £80,000 from the Nazi adventurer, Otto Skorzeny…. One reason why [The Train Robbers] is more mystifying than necessary is that Read, at first taken in by the Skorzeny lie; presents...