History Literature / TheGreatTrainRobbery

* DiscouragingConcealment: The team's Safe Cracking expert is smuggled aboard the train's cargo car (where the safe with the gold is located) by placing him inside of a coffin. The coffin is prevented from being searched by the police by having the team's FemmeFatale (pretending to be his widow) loudly proclaim in the station that he died of cholera.

* {{Troll}}: Pierce is "casually outrageous" at his trial, brazenly stating his intent to escape and insulting Lord Cardigan, referring to him as [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs "Mr. James Brudenell"]] and stating that Cardigan's [[UsefulNotes/TheCrimeanWar stupidity on the battlefield]] was a crime far more worthy of hanging than anything he himself had done.

* ThievesCant: The criminal jargon spoken by the underclass in Victorian England could be incomprehensible, even to the ordinary residents of Victorian England. Police detectives and judges often had to have a translator handy, just so they could understand what some informant or witness was saying.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Certain aspects of Victorian England are downright ''bizarre'' by modern standards, on top of being classist, sexist and racist, to the point that the novel requires several infodumps to explain them.

A 1978 film adaptation (titled ''The First Great Train Robbery'' outside of the U.S., presumably to distinguish it from the [[Film/TheGreatTrainRobbery silent 1903 Western film]]) (and possibly to avoid confusion among British audiences and others who might think of a ''real-life'' British train robbery in 1963) was directed by Crichton himself. It starred Creator/SeanConnery as Pierce and Creator/DonaldSutherland as Agar.

* ActionPrologue: A fight between a guard and a man trying to rob the Crimean gold, who ends up being killed via bring tossed off the high-speed train (and Pierce then passes the body by. Avoids being a BigLippedAlligatorMoment via a conversation between Pierce and the organizers of the gold transport, showing that this is a semi-regular occurrence and that the measures in place make stealing the gold an ImpossibleMission). In the book it's further implied that Pierce himself hired the man to probe the train's defenses.

A 1979 film adaptation (titled ''The First Great Train Robbery'' outside of the U.S., presumably to distinguish it from the [[Film/TheGreatTrainRobbery silent 1903 Western film]]) (and possibly to avoid confusion among British audiences and others who might think of a ''real-life'' British train robbery in 1963) was directed by Crichton himself. It starred Creator/SeanConnery as Pierce and Creator/DonaldSutherland as Agar.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Great Gold Robbery of 1855 did happen in real life. However, a number of details are changed in this story, such as Robert Agar. In this book, Robert Agar was an unintelligent lackey, but the real life version actually masterminded much of the robbery and got away with minor punishment.

* {{Squick}}: In the novel, the thieves gain access to Fowler's key by setting him up with a twelve year-old girl and copying the key while he's having his way with her. Even worse, it's revealed earlier that he had syphilis.
** Averted in the movie: there's no mention of Fowler having a social disease, and he's set up with Miriam, posing as an adult French courtesan. And before she has to actually do anything with Fowler, Pierce sets up a phony police raid and hauls Fowler out.

* Squick: In the novel, the thieves gain access to Fowler's key by setting him up with a twelve year-old girl and copying the key while he's having his way with her. Even worse, it's revealed earlier that he had syphilis.

A 1979 film adaptation (titled ''The First Great Train Robbery'' outside of the U.S., presumably to distinguish it from the [[Film/TheGreatTrainRobbery silent 1903 Western film]]) was directed by Crichton himself. It starred Creator/SeanConnery as Pierce and Creator/DonaldSutherland as Agar.

* AdaptedOut: Most of the final act of the novel, including [[spoiler: Agar's mistress ratting the heist team out, and Agar ratting Pierce out because he's being threatened to be sent to [[PenalColony Australia]].]]

* BavarianFireDrill: Part of the WidowsWeeds scam mentioned below (and done to prevent anybody from looking too closely at the "corpse"): Miriam "casually" mentions that her husband died of cholera when the policemen open the coffin. Obviously horrified at the possibility of infection, they stop checking.

* GreatEscape: "Clean Willy"'s getaway from prison, via climbing up the wall while everybody else is distracted by a random hanging.

* SpannerInTheWorks: "Clean Willy" (an expert at climbing and a compulsive pickpocket) being caught doing the latter after he escaped prison and him ratting on Pierce's plan in order to get a deal is the first moment that the police even know that the robbery scheme exists, and thus up the security of the wagon. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Pierce has Willy killed after dodging a police sting using Willy as bait]].

* VillainProtagonist: Edward Pierce is a professional burglar who poses as a gentleman.