Born wealthy, the Oxford-educated Rose Dugdale (b. 1941) turned to crime as she became involved with Irish Republicanism. Her radical ideals led Dugdale to mastermind a major art heist.

The Woman Who Stole Vermeer: The True Story of Rose Dugdale and the Russborough House Art Heist, a new book by Anthony M. Amore (Simon & Schuster), details Dugdale's extraordinary life of crime and activism.

From the publisher:

Dugdale ran head-first towards the action, spearheading the first aerial terrorist attack in British history and pulling off the biggest art theft of her time. In 1974, she led a gang into the opulent Russborough House in Ireland and made off with millions in prized paintings, including works by Goya, Gainsborough, and Rubens, as well as "Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid" by the mysterious master Johannes Vermeer. Dugdale thus became—to this day—the only woman to pull off a major art heist. And as Anthony Amore explores in The Woman Who Stole Vermeer, it’s likely that this was not her only such heist.