Click "free sample" to read the whole book no need to purchase.The Amateur Cracksman is an 1899 short story collection by E. W. Hornung. It was published in the UK by Methuen & Co., London, and in the US by Scribner's, New York.[1] Many later editions (T. Nelson & Sons, 1914; the University of Nebraska Press, 1976; et al) expand the title to Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman. Some editions such as Penguin Books, 1948, retitle the collection simply, Raffles. It was the original short story collection by Hornung, featuring his most famous character, A. J. Raffles, a gentleman thief in late Victorian Great Britain. The book was very well received and spawned three follow-ups: two more short story collections, The Black Mask (1901) and A Thief in the Night (1904), as well as a full-length novel, Mr. Justice Raffles (1909).