NEW YORK.-The New York tabloids call him “the pit bull” for his relentless prosecution of high-profile defendants like Sean “Puffy” Combs. He’s an assistant D.A., a spit-and-polish Marine, a trigger-puller on counter-terrorist missions to Afghanistan, a competitive boxer—and a dedicated classics scholar. So when Matthew Bogdanos discovered that the Iraq National Museum had been looted during the battle of Baghdad, he immediately embarked on a mission to recover the stolen antiquities. Accompanied by a select group of men chosen from his special-ops, interagency task force, Bogdanos set off across the desert without official sanction, risking his career and his life in pursuit of this priceless international treasure.

Thieves of Baghdad takes you into the rich culture, the colorful characters, the double-dealing, and the derring-do that Bogdanos encounters as he tries to sort out once and for all what actually happened during the chaos of the Baghdad invasion, exactly how the thefts took place, and how the most notable objects were retrieved. We see Bogdanos and his team going on raids and negotiating recoveries, blowing open safes and mingling in the marketplaces to track down leads. We are introduced to an assortment of rogues and villains, a full-figured spy, and, in one café, a punch-drunk Iraqi heavyweight with whom the colonel puts on a comic sparring match so that his partner can meet unobserved with a notorious arms smuggler. He gradually earns the trust of Iraqis eager to preserve their cultural heritage—and then stuns the world by unearthing the most sensational treasure of all, Nimrud’s Gold, over 1000 pieces of gold jewelry, precious stones, and ornaments often called “Iraq’s Crown Jewels.”

A mixture of police procedural, treasure hunt, war-time thriller, and cold-eyed assessment of the international black market in stolen art, Thieves of Baghdad also explores the soul of a truly remarkable man: a soldier, a father, and a passionate, dedicated scholar.

A portion of the author’s proceeds will be donated to the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad.

“Stolen priceless artifacts, cobwebbed hidden tunnels, an irresistible mystery, and an unstoppable hero. Best of all? It really happened. An incisive penetrating look at what it truly takes to catch a thief. From war-torn Baghdad to the beauty of Babylon, Bogdanos doesn’t just investigate—he attacks, dissects, and reassembles like an obsessive master puzzlemaker. Part Indiana Jones, part CSI, and most important, all true.”—New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer

Matthew Bogdanos has been an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan since 1988. He holds both a law degree and a master's in classics from Columbia University, as well as a master's in Strategic Studies from the Army War College. Recalled to active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps after September 11, 2001, he received a Bronze Star for counter-terrorist operations in Afghanistan, and served several tours in Iraq. Upon his release from active duty, he will return to the D.A.'s office to head New York's first antiquities task force.