The Ardagh emeralds

the long version

England in the 1890s. The world of Victoria and the Empire. This is the world, too, of AJ Raffles, man about town, who, assisted by his inept assistant Bunny Manders, is a successful jewel thief. The eight stories in this book recapture the spirit of the Naughty Nineties, when the gentleman burglar would put out his Sullivan cigarette, don a black mask, outwit a villain, and save a lady in distress - all before going out to dinner.