"The Feather Thief" is a non-fiction book by Kirk Wallace Johnson that tells the story of the theft of hundreds of rare bird specimens from the Natural History Museum at Tring, England, in 2009. The thief, a young American flautist named Edwin Rist, stole the birds to sell their feathers to fly-fishing enthusiasts, who prized them for use in creating ornamental fishing lures. Johnson's book delves into the history of fly-fishing and the Victorian-era craze for exotic bird feathers, as well as the current state of wildlife conservation and the impact of habitat destruction and poaching. He also follows the investigation into Rist's theft and eventual arrest, as well as the legal proceedings that followed. Along the way, Johnson explores the psychology of the thief and the motivations behind his crime, as well as the lives and work of the scientists who collected and preserved the bird specimens in the first place. "The Feather Thief" is a fascinating and thought-provoking book that sheds light on the strange and often-hidden world of fly-fishing, natural history, and the human desire for beauty and rarity.
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