The author shares his amusing, and sometimes hair-raising, anecdotes about his life as an international collector of antiques and works of art. These are stories of excitement and disappointment, passion and commerce, and a world where philanthropy rubs shoulders with crime.

Join McAlpine on his travels and marvel at the weird and wonderful objects, including ostrich-skin cowboy boots in LA, a Dadaist urinal in Venice and a six-foot budgie in Bangkok.