---
product_id: 1699646
title: "Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures"
brand: "robert k. wittmanjohn shiffman"
price: "KSh7283"
currency: KES
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.co.ke/products/1699646-priceless-how-i-went-undercover-to-rescue-the-worlds-stolen
store_origin: KE
region: Kenya
---

# Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures

**Brand:** robert k. wittmanjohn shiffman
**Price:** KSh7283
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by robert k. wittmanjohn shiffman
- **How much does it cost?** KSh7283 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.ke](https://www.desertcart.co.ke/products/1699646-priceless-how-i-went-undercover-to-rescue-the-worlds-stolen)

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## Description

Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures

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![Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Em6QjDg1L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    A Coward Has No Scar ...
  

*by S***R on Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2018*

Robert Wittman, with aide of John Shiffman, weaves a very detailed memoir that is captivating and incredibly informative. This is a must read for anyone interested the FBI's development and interest in recovering stolen art over the decades.Often times people take jobs in the public sector, spend a lifetime providing service and then retire. Everyone can say they left a mark in their own field and implemented changes that made the job for the next person more fluid, simpler or more efficient, but not everyone can say what Wittman has done. Robert Wittman through good fortune and solid investigative work and 'proper salesmanship' in the field slowly built a career not only for himself but a place for others to hopefully follow.Bob Wittman, AKA Bob Clay, undercover Art Dealer for an 'unnamed client' with a hefty checkbook, spent twenty years chasing down leads, setting up meetings in out-of-the-way darkened places, stings and apprehending a long list of people who ventured into Art Crime. Some were dangerous, others were probably more vacuous and obnoxious than dangerous, but still trouble all the same.The best part of the story that unfolds is learning that at one point the FBI gave Bob the leeway needed to see these cases through, recapture lost art and artifacts and take the lead with other Agents to generate success recovering paintings, lost swords, stolen battleflags and other antiquities. The worst part is learning by the end of the book that, like with all bureaucracies who become obsessed with core issues, the FBI supposedly lost interest in drafting a line item budget in their annual reserve policies for Bob's Art Crime Department. Perhaps if more money had been spent on the West Coast, Marion True would've been shut down years prior over at the Getty Center in Los Angeles … but that's another story.In reading the reviews, yes, I always do … I can see that Bob is unfairly taking a lot of flak for a portion of his writing style. Some readers come away a little turned off by what appears to be an oversized ego, but the truth is that when you're the first person to do something, anything you say is likely to come off that way. While Bob wasn't necessarily the first person to come along and do what he did with the FBI, he was likely the first to make a distinguished career out of it, go undercover and build an interest with FBI so they would create entire Departments which then made it able to frame the FBI in a favourable light for the recoveries. Bob Wittman does write a lot of “I did this” and “I did that” sentences, but having to protect other agents parts in cases is a part of it and the material should be read with such consideration.Some people never see the value in history or in art, but will quickly sign the permission slip to let their kids visit a museum for a field trip outing with their elementary school. Common sense can skip a generation (sometimes two) and that's okay. A good number of people understand the significance of what art and antiquities hold, and what it means about our own past.Bob Wittman's narrative of his case files make for good reading, thoughtful consideration and a warning to ne'er-do-wells who think ripping priceless art off the walls of sleepy half-forgotten museums can be profitable. Nine times out of ten you're likely going to be reselling the works to an undercover agent. So, the real lesson is clear – unless you're going to hang the stuff in your own two story home to look at and tell your neighbors it's a fake, decade after decade – don't even think about it.Five Stars. Many thanks to the author for a lifetime of dedicated service as well.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Well written, in general - a true story that almost reads like a novel
  

*by C***Y on Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2013*

This is in general a well-written book, that is as far as I can ascertain, true. It is from a retired FBI agent, their only art specialist (when he retired). Art crime is different than almost any other crime. It's only comparison is kidnapping. The aim in both is the recovery of the art (person) first, with prosecution a secondary consideration.The FBI does not spend a lot of time or resources on art crime - people are not hurt (generally) in the commission of the crime, it generally takes a lot of time to solve the cases, and it is not glamorous, until the recovery is made. So, for the past 20-40 years (time is one of the reasons I only gave it a 4 instead of a 5 rating, as the passing of time is rather nebulous in this book) the FBI has only had one art crime specialist in the country.One of the main themes to come out of this book is that there needs to be  reorganization of the FBI for a handful of situations. In the FBI, the SAIC (Special Agent In Charge) of an area is in charge of EVERYTHING that happens in his area. In most cases, this is great. But when an FBI office has to call in or deal with one of their specialists like art theft specialist Bob Whitman, he then works for that SAIC, not his home one. And that often causes problems. One of the largest art cases went unsolved largely because the SAIC of one office insisted he know more about how to solve the case than the art crime specialist who had spent 15 years on the case, getting to know every little nuance of the crooks and art crime world. In other words, hundreds of millions of one-of-a-kind art is not available for anyone to see because of the inflated ego of the SAIC. And keep in mind that sometimes art thieves have destroyed pieces so their is little or no evidence against them if they are caught. Keep in mind that Rembrandt and DaVinci are retired and not doing much painting anymore, so originals are hard to replace.All-in-all, a good book that move along at a nice pace. I would give it 4.5 stars if I could.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    As advertised
  

*by S***E on Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2023*

It’s as advertised

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*Product available on Desertcart Kenya*
*Store origin: KE*
*Last updated: 2026-03-06*