To Rob a Bank Is an Honor

Spanish forger and revolutionary Urtubia (1930–2020) recounts his life and crimes in this enthralling autobiography. Beginning with his early years growing up in Basque country, where poverty was a “spur to creativity,” Urtubia makes clear that his own political commitments as an anarchist are grounded in his youthful experiences of working alongside his family and community (“The keystone of existence is doing right by one’s neighbor”). Urtubia’s early life seems a whirlwind: conscripted into Franco’s army but discharged for his involvement in a smuggling scheme, Urtubia ended up in Paris, working as a stonemason by day (he worked on “the magnificent Gallimard Bookshop”), and printing pamphlets and documents for radical left-wing organizations by night. He transitioned to forging paychecks for striking workers, and, eventually, to a large-scale counterfeiting operation. As much a craftsman as a revolutionary, Urtubia describes his processes in evocative terms: he worked overnight teaching himself to produce “top quality photoengraving” while “making sure no evidence was left behind.” Soon Urtubia’s outfit was producing books of checks by the hundreds of kilos: “Without violence... we had come across a source of funding for all revolutionary... movements across the globe.” Urtubia was eventually caught and arrested, but released due to lack of evidence. The author’s unique voice, irascible and wise, adds a great deal of charm to this meandering memoir. It’s a wonder. (Dec.)