GBP2.6 million stolen in 46 minutes prison sentences totalling 378 years 23 criminals countless victims. In the early hours of Thursday 8 August 1963 at Sears Crossing near Cheddington in Buckinghamshire GBP2.6 million (GBP45 million today) in unmarked GBP5 GBP1 & 10 shilling notes was stolen from the Glasgow to London mail train in a violent & daring raid which took forty-six minutes. Quickly dubbed the Crime of the Century it has captured the imagination of the public & the worlds media for fifty years taking its place in British folklore. Ronnie Biggs Bruce Reynolds & Buster Edwards became household names & their accounts have fed the myths & legends of The Great Train Robbery. But what really happened? This definitive account dismantles the myths & strips away the sensational headlines to reveal a flawed darker & more complex story. The crime the police investigation the trial two escapes from high-security prisons & an establishment under siege are all laid bare in astonishing detail for an epic tale of crime & punishment. Fifty years later here is the story set out in full for the first time -- a true-life crime thriller & also a vivid slice of British social history.