Clifford Thurlow

On a sunny May morning in 1990, a bank courier strode out of the Bank of England and, minutes later, was robbed at knifepoint of 301 bearer bonds valued at L292 million. It was the biggest theft in British history.The thing is... when Keith Cheeseman received a call from a disbarred lawyer connected to London''s underworld and attended a meeting on the night of the robbery, he counted L427 million in bonds - L135 million more than the Bank of England had reported.As Keith set out to launder the bonds, Scotland Yard and the FBI were always one step ahead in tracking them down. Over the next eighteen months, two gangland figures were shot dead and more than eighty people were arrested. Keith was the only man ever jailed for the crime.Keith Cheeseman is the last of the old-time gangsters, a con man who detests violence, wears Savile Row suits and gold watches, and loves classic cars and good dining. He bought non-league Dunstable Town football club and signed Manchester United star George Best to play for the team. He knew the legendary Kray twins and killer Frankie Fraser once threatened to snuff him out over a game of chess.So what happened to the missing L135 millio? n this breath-taking adventure, featuring colourful characters from showbusiness alongside royalty, the IRA and even Pablo Escobar, Clifford Thurlow reveals Keith Cheeseman''s incredible true story for the first time.

1936. Spain erupts in civil war. The Republic forms an International Brigade and calls for volunteers to combat a Nationalist uprising led by General Franco. After his best friend Jimmy is killed by a police baton on a hunger march to London, Glaswegian Robbie Gillan has a fist fight with the mortician. The police are called and sympathetic nurse Alice Sheridan gives Robbie L5 when he tells her he wants to join the battle in Spain. Alice’s twin brother Simon argues with his father over Spain and leaves on the night ferry for Paris where the volunteers are gathering. In a knife fight with Franco loyalists, Robbie Gillan saves Simon’s life and the two men, opposites in class and temperament, cross France and climb the Pyrenees to Spain. Alice, drawn by emotions that are not entirely clear to her, soon follows with the Red Cross. The battle cry of the Spanish Republic was No pasarán. Pasaremos. They shall not pass. We Shall Pass – the defining spirit of this gripping novel that takes us into the heart of war and reveals the enduring power of love, hope and defiance as Robbie and Alice must overcome every obstacle to be together.