A Normal Life
by Vassilis Palaiokostas
Freedom Press £15

“HOW can you slow down when you’re driving a Lada Niva on a wet highway, and there’s a deadly roadblock in front of you?” writes Greek bank robber and fugitive Vassilis Palaiokostas, describing how he raced towards the cops at full throttle in the rain.

“Obviously, the Bolsheviks had never imagined car chases in Parga, Epirus [north-west Greece] when they revolted. The Lada, communist feat that it was, was not made for such dangerous missions.”

After zooming past the roadblock at 75mph, soaking the cops in the processes, Palaiokostas saw four police officers take off after him in an Alfa Romeo.