The Great Train Robber: My Autobiography

The Inside Story of Britain's Most Notorious Heist

Chris Pickard

• Publisher: John Blake
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN:
  9781789465983
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies

What is it that fascinates so many people about Ronnie Biggs and makes him a household name sixty years on from the crime that made his name? Is it the man or the myth that makes Ron a latter-day Robin Hood, and the odd man out who is best remembered from a gang of sixteen who held up a mail train in August 1963?

This book covers Ron's entire life including the Great Train Robbery, his conviction and subsequent escape from HMP Wandsworth. Ron tells how he managed to outrun and outthink the posse of law enforcement officers and the media that chased him around the world as one of its most wanted men. From his time in Australia, to his discovery and arrest in Brazil in 1974, it is all included here. It covers the two attempts to kidnap him, and his son Mike's rise to stardom.

For the first time Ron tells exactly what has happened to him since the early 1990s to today, including his strokes, his attempted suicide, the death of his partner and friends, the extradition attempts, the Rio carnival tribute, his decision to come back to the UK, and his much publicised return in 2001 after 13,068 days on the run. It also covers his death in 2013 and the legacy he leaves behind.

This is not only Ronald Biggs' autobiography; it is also the most complete biography of one of the most famous names in British life of the last 50 years. A brand new 10,000-word timeline covers not only the life and times of Ronald Biggs, but includes the most detailed timeline and facts ever published about the events surrounding the Great Train Robbery itself.

This book will stand the test of time as the most complete telling of the life and times of the man who is Ronald Arthur Biggs, and his part in the Great Train Robbery.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Chapter One. Confessions: No One is Innocent
• Chapter Two. The Great Train Robbery
• Chapter Three. Thursday 8 August 1963
• Chapter Four. Aftermath and Capture
• Chapter Five. Trials and Tribulations
• Chapter Six. Escape: The Making of the Man
• Chapter Seven. Ron on the Run
• Chapter Eight. Time Down Under
• Chapter Nine. Pacifics: Melbourne to Rio
• Chapter Ten. Mr Haynes Settles in Rio
• Chapter Eleven. Caught: Slipper Drops his Catch
• Chapter Twelve. Life in the Spotlight: Fame and Infamy
• Thirteen. KIDNAPPED: SECOND TIME LUCKY
• Chapter Fourteen. Unwelcome Caribbean Excursion
• Chapter FifTeen. A Star is Born: Mike Biggs
• Chapter Sixteen. An Englishman Abroad
• Chapter Seventeen. Long Dark Tunnel
• Chapter Eighteen. Saudades for Rio: Time for Home
• Chapter Nineteen. Justice for Some: More Porridge
• Chapter Twenty. Clutching at Straws: Sickness and Wealth
• Chapter Twenty-One. This is it! End of the Line
• Postscript: Let Us Say Goodbye, to the One and Only . . . Ronnie Biggs
• Cast of Characters
• Photos