{"product_id":"the-man-who-stole-the-gods-a-true-story-of-war-obsession-and-a-global-art-conspiracy","title":"The Man Who Stole the Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Extraordinary...The incredible story of Latchford's life and crimes alone would make \n\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Stole The Gods\u003c\/i\u003e well worth reading, but its author, the journalist Matthew Campbell, positions his wrongdoing within a much wider context...It's greatly reassuring that the arc of this fascinating and scrupulously researched story bends finally towards justice.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e-- \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Fascinating...'The Man Who Stole the Gods' reads like a thriller...the story romps along with dogged lawyers and a ludicrous, devious antagonist.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e-- \u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A cross between a well-reported exposé and...a page-turning true-crime procedural. There are shady art dealers, greedy museum curators, Khmer Rouge guerillas, American tycoons turned art collectors, indefatigable Feds, honest lawyers, Thai body-builders: everything needed for a multi-episode TV docudrama...Campbell excels at building a narrativ \n\u003cb\u003ee.\u003c\/b\u003e\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-- \u003ci\u003eAsian Review of Books \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\"Shocking...a race against time.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Painstakingly researched and paced like a thriller, this sweeping, cinematic account weaves together true crime and Asian history to shine a light on a little-explored art world scandal. It's a breathtaking ride.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003ePublishers Weekly, starred review\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Thought-provoking true crime on a grand scale.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003eKirkus \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Wildly compelling...investigated with great skill and depth\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eCrimeReads\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"As unnerving as it is engrossing...unfurls like a global detective novel\" \n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Irish News\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"For those who loved \n\u003ci\u003eThe Art Thief\u003c\/i\u003e, or any page-turning history of true crime, Matthew Campbell's latest should be on your radar. In \n\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Stole the Gods\u003c\/i\u003e, Campbell takes us behind the scenes to understand how a white man in Cambodia pilfered local statues, temples, and art, making millions and selling to Western museums like the Met, who were eager to expand their collections--and as Campbell shows, incredibly unscrupulously. A fascinating, page-turning story of an art heist where the pilfered works are still on view today at some of the most storied institutions in the world.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmazon Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"An epic tale of art, war, and crime, The Man Who Stole the Gods unspools a sprawling conspiracy of tomb raiders, art dealers, and museum curators, with one elusive expatriate at the heart of it all. Campbell brings the story to life with brisk pacing, an instinct for drama, and a firm grasp of the moral and historical stakes.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003eStuart A. Reid, senior fellow for history and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Lumumba Plot\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Stole the Gods\u003c\/i\u003e transcends reportage, marrying investigative rigor to the emotional force of great fiction. Propulsive and devastating, it traces a story of greed and violence that opens, finally, onto redemption, rendered with exceptional clarity and insight.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003eKatie Engelhart, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Inevitable\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Immaculately researched and beautifully written, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Stole the Gods\u003c\/i\u003e is a gripping real-life exposé of the ugly deals that underpin the trade in beautiful objects.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003eOliver Bullough, author of \u003ci\u003eEverybody Loves Our Dollars\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMoneyland\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Stole the Gods\u003c\/i\u003e is both an archaeological adventure to rival David Grann's \n\u003ci\u003eLost City of Z\u003c\/i\u003e, and a riveting exposé of the plunder that still fills the world's top art museums.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003eZeke Faux, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber Go Up\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Masterfully reported and beautifully told, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Stole the Gods\u003c\/i\u003e is a piercing indictment of our unequal world. It reads like a thriller, starring elite curators, business moguls, despots, freedom fighters, and one of the most fascinating anti- heroes in modern memory.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e-- \n\u003cb\u003eSheelah Kolhatkar, staff writer at \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e and author of \u003ci\u003eBlack Edge\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Reads like a thriller while laying out the entwined histories of the Cambodian genocide and the rapacious hunger of Western collectors for the images of Hindu and Buddhist deities.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e-- Hyperallergic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eMatthew Campbell\u003c\/b\u003e is an award-winning reporter for \n\u003ci\u003eBloomberg Businessweek\u003c\/i\u003e and the author of \n\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Stole the Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy\u003c\/i\u003e. His previous book, \n\u003ci\u003eDead in the Water--\u003c\/i\u003eco-authored with Kit Chellel--was selected as a Book of the Year by \n\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e, the \n\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e, and \n\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMatt has reported from more than twenty-five countries on crime, corruption, terrorism, economics, and the environment. His work has earned some of journalism's highest honors, including awards from the Gerald Loeb Foundation, the Overseas Press Club, the National Press Club, SOPA, and SABEW for both feature and investigative reporting. A 2025 Jonathan Logan Family Foundation Fellow at New America, Matt lives in Singapore with his family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eFrom the Killing Fields of Cambodia to the gilded halls of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, a tale of stolen treasures and the battle to reclaim a nation's soul.\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAmidst the chaos of Cambodia's brutal genocide, a new crime wave emerged--one that would sweep across borders and entangle the world's most prestigious art institutions. Priceless treasures of the ancient Khmer Empire, the civilization that produced Angkor Wat, vanished from sacred temples, looted by smugglers and trafficked into the hands of elite collectors. At the center of it all was a man named Douglas Latchford. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKnown later as \"Dynamite Doug\" for the ruthless methods used to extract statues from temple ruins, Latchford orchestrated one of history's most audacious cultural heists. From dusty Cambodian villages to the glittering auction houses of London and New York and institutions like the Met, he played a double game--presenting himself as an expert on Khmer art while secretly flooding the market with stolen antiquities. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \n\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Stole the Gods\u003c\/i\u003e, award-winning journalist Matthew Campbell unravels the gripping story of Latchford's criminal enterprise, and a global conspiracy of greed and collusion--one that involves some of the world's most powerful museums and collectors. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA masterful blend of true crime, history, and investigative journalism, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Stole the Gods\u003c\/i\u003e is the definitive account of one man's greed, an industry's complicity, and the fight to expose the truth and restore stolen treasures to their rightful home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/01\/2026 (EAN 9780593716007, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/27\/2026 (EAN 9780593716007, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Portfolio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496191918358,"sku":"9780593716007","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780593716007.jpg?v=1783057187","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/the-man-who-stole-the-gods-a-true-story-of-war-obsession-and-a-global-art-conspiracy","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}