son of Isaac Robert Cruikshank. The history of the robbery can be found in The First Great Train Robbery, written by David C. Hanrahan in 2011. In the May 1955 issue of The Railway Magazine the railway historian Michael Robbins wrote an article on the robbery; in November 1980 the Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society carried an account written by the historian John Fletcher. On 25 December 1960 the television anthology series Armchair Theatre dramatised the crime under the title The Great Gold Bullion Robbery. Adapted by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice from a play by the lawyer Gerald Sparrow, and directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, it starred Colin Blakely as Pierce, James Booth as Agar, Henry McGee as Tester and Leslie Weston as Burgess. The writer and director Michael Crichton produced his novel The Great Train Robbery in 1975; his introduction reads "The Great Train Robbery was not only shocking and appalling, but also 'daring', 'audacious' and 'masterful'." A feature film based on the novel, The First Great Train Robbery (1978), presents a highly fictionalised version of the event, portraying Pierce (played by Sean Connery), as a gentleman master criminal who eventually escapes from the police. The robbery also featured as one of the themes in the 2006 mystery novel Kept by D. J. Taylor. See also List of heists in the United Kingdom Train robbery Notes and references Notes References Sources Books Journals and magazines News sources Websites 1855 in rail transport 1855 in the United Kingdom May 1855 events Robberies in England Train robberies 1855 in France 1855 in England 1855 crimes in the United Kingdom 1855 crimes in Europe