In the early hours of Thursday 8th August 1963 at rural Cheddington in Buckinghamshire GBP2.6 million (GBP50 million today) in unmarked GBP5 GBP1 & 10-shilling notes was stolen from the Glasgow to London nightmail train in a daring & brilliantly executed operation lasting just 46 minutes. Quickly dubbed the crime of the century it has captured the imagination of the public & the world's media for 50 years taking its place in British folklore & giving birth to the myths of The Great Train Robbery. Ronnie Biggs Buster Edwards & Bruce Reynolds became household names. But what really happened? This is the story of four talented villains who took the criminal world by storm of the 'perfect crime'. It is also the story of ruthless policemen determined to hunt the robbers down & to make sure nobody slipped through the net not even the innocent. It is the story of an Establishment under siege & of one mistake which cost the robbers 307 years in prison. 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.