From NBA, Printz, and Newbery winner M. T. Anderson, a tour de force of research and storytelling that follows the life of a humble young man named Nicholas who became one of the world's most influential figures in religion, government, and commerce-whether you believe in him or not.

M. T. Anderson still believes in Santa Claus-just not in the way you think.

Born of the research for Nicked, his acclaimed adult debut, The Saint Nicholas Heist is the story of the man who became Father Christmas-but only after surviving the Great Persecution, the fall of the Roman Empire, and the theft of his magically oozing bones (twice).

Anderson traces Nicholas of Myra, future patron saint of consumption, from his humble origins as a child born into a fringe Jewish cult in small town on the Mediterranean coast in the the 3rd century AD through his rise to one of the preeminent saints in all of Christianity to his transformation into an icon of capitalism and unwitting rival to Jesus Christ. Along the way, Anderson shows how human history can only be known and understood by both examining the objective facts and by studying the fantastical stories that people choose to make into myths.

Anderson's full powers as a storyteller and a scholar are on display in this incredibly readable and hugely informative tale about how the stories we believe in common shape the course of humanity.