Václav Kaplický / Bandit, Paťara & Co.

Welcome to old town of Tábor (town in South Bohemia) at the beginning of the 20th century. Back when two brave gangs of boys were at war with each other: Klášteráci and Klokoťáci. As well as running battles in the streets and squares of the Old Town, they clashed in the meadows, baulks and dirt roads surrounding the town. These boys, just like Bandit, the old fighter, knew every crooked street inside out and they fought fiercely to gain to win the other’s territories. They built castles overlooking the river and they conquered them. But they had to go to school too and their monkey business and mischief outraged the honorable citizens of Tábor.This memoir, written by one of the town’s famous native sons, Václav Kaplický, remains a stunning and fast-moving story of the friendship, loyalty and courage of small boys with big hearts. They might not have had shoes, but they were never bored…Includes historical maps and photographs of the period when the story takes place, from the archive of the Tábor photographic studio Šechtl & Voseček.