The Great Train Robbery essays

The Great Train Robbery essays The setting for The Great Train Robbery was Victorian England during the middle of the nineteenth century. It was very similar to the setting of The Count of Monte Cristo, except for not taking place in France. Michael Crichton researched the time period very well. He makes the reader feel like they are living in England during that time. The main characters name is Edward Pierce. He is a mysterious gentleman. No one knows anything about his past. Most people assume that he has just inherited a large fortune. No one would assume that he is a master cracksman about to attempt an unthinkable crime. The crime is stealing gold bullion from a train. Once a month a large bank in London transfers 12,000 of gold to a branch in France. The gold goes by train and steamboat. The gold is transferred from the bank to the railway station by an armed coach. Then it is put into top of the line safes. There are two on the train and each of them needs two keys to open. After the train the bullion is placed on a boat that takes it the rest of the way. It took about one years time from when Pierce started planning until he had the gold. First, he found a screws man named Agar. Agar was a master with keys and locks. Pierce was very cautious and didnt tell Agar the plan. Then they copied the keys. The four keys were in different locations. Two were at the railway office at the train station. One was in the control of Edgar Trent, the senior partner of the bank. The fourth key belonged to Henry Fowler, a friend of Pierce and a manager for the bank. Pierce planned to make replicas of the keys, but he had to have access to them to do so. He started dating Mr. Trents daughter to find out where the first key was. She let enough information slip for Pierce to know the general vicinity of it. He snuck into the Trent residence with Agar. They found the key and copied it. Fowler kept his key on ...