Seconds after twelve-year-old Smith picks the bulging pocket of an old gentleman, he hears footsteps in Curtis Alley, his planned path of escape. Two men in brown appear, and from the doorway where he is hiding, Smith witnesses the murder and violent search of his victim. Terrified, he flees the scene of the crime.<br> <br> A quarter of a mile off Smith stops. What has he stolen that is worth the life of a man? He stares at his loot bitterly. It is a document—and Smith cannot read.<br> <br> Leon Garfield’s crisp, exuberant writing brings new excitement and high adventure to the genre of historical fiction. <i>The Who’s Who of Children’s Literature </i>has called <i>Smith </i>“a graphic, breathtaking picture of England—and particularly London—with a handful of memorable, larger-than-life characters.”