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611 reviews for:
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Robert M. Edsel
3.73 AVERAGE
611 reviews for:
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Robert M. Edsel
3.73 AVERAGE
What a piece of forgotten history. Excellent story well researched. Writing was fair but story made up for it. These middle aged men volunteered to go to the front, get shot at, be cold, hungry and dirty because they knew WWII was not just about troops and stopping evil it was about saving culture.
Interesting from an historical perspective, but it was a rough read...
"Monuments Men" tells the truly fascinating story of the American soldiers who tracked down European art stolen by the Nazis in World War II. Unfortunately, the author was not up to the task of telling such a complicated story.
It boils down to this: Robert Edsel is just not a good writer. He's bad at creating memorable portraits of his characters. I've got a good memory, especially for names and characters, but even at the end of the book I was still having trouble keeping the soldiers straight, because Edsel did a poor job of showing us his characters. And that was a problem not just with the American soldiers, but especially with the Nazis.
It's fine to include a little morality in your book, especially when it comes to WWII and Nazis. But that shouldn't come at the cost of telling the reader the story. Unfortunately, Edsel chose to *tell* the reader that Nazis were bad instead of *showing* the reader. For example, he calls one German art scholar "corrupted" and "vile" - but never fully explains the scholar's role in the art theft program. Ernst Kaltenbrunner is an important figure in the history of the Altaussee mine, but he gets just a few paragraphs, and those are judgmental rather than explanatory.
Part of the big problem of the book is that it skimps on the details of the Nazi art theft program. If Edsel had included just one detailed chapter on the program, it would have been very helpful to the reader to understand the full scale and detail that went into the Nazis' lust for the treasure of other countries. Instead, mentions of the program are included briefly throughout the book, making it difficult for the reader to truly comprehend the time and effort the Nazis put into it.
The other big problem is that Edsel is bad at writing organizational history. "Monuments Men" is kinda supposed to be an organizational history. The beginning, where he talks about how the MFAA began, is okay. But throughout the book he repeatedly talks about how the MFAA were shorthanded, didn't have assistants, etc. But then suddenly assistants start showing up, and by the end of the book we find out there were hundreds of MFAA! I know the book focuses on Western Europe and that there were Monuments Men on other fronts. But Edsel does a poor job with following the full story of the MFAA.
Another issue is that Edsel makes up dialogue and internal monologues. If this was limited in nature, I could forgive it--after all, Edsel intended the book to be for a public, rather academic, audience. But there's just too much of it in the book, and it makes me question the veracity of many sections focusing on the characters. It's impossible for the reader to know where a characters' notes and diary entries ended and Edsel's imagination began.
Despite these many flaws, I still couldn't put down the book because the story of the art was so fascinating, and I am looking forward to the movie. But here is my suggestion, dear readers: if you want to read a book on this topic that includes dialogue and focuses on the American soldiers, read "Monuments Men." If you want to read a real professional history of the Nazi theft program and efforts to recover the art, that has a broader narrative and includes Russia, Italy, and other countries as well, read Lynn Nicholas' [b:The Rape of Europa.] Nicholas conducted extensive archival research, and her book is a detailed history of this subject. But it may be more detailed than some would like to read. So it's nice to have a choice!
It boils down to this: Robert Edsel is just not a good writer. He's bad at creating memorable portraits of his characters. I've got a good memory, especially for names and characters, but even at the end of the book I was still having trouble keeping the soldiers straight, because Edsel did a poor job of showing us his characters. And that was a problem not just with the American soldiers, but especially with the Nazis.
It's fine to include a little morality in your book, especially when it comes to WWII and Nazis. But that shouldn't come at the cost of telling the reader the story. Unfortunately, Edsel chose to *tell* the reader that Nazis were bad instead of *showing* the reader. For example, he calls one German art scholar "corrupted" and "vile" - but never fully explains the scholar's role in the art theft program. Ernst Kaltenbrunner is an important figure in the history of the Altaussee mine, but he gets just a few paragraphs, and those are judgmental rather than explanatory.
Part of the big problem of the book is that it skimps on the details of the Nazi art theft program. If Edsel had included just one detailed chapter on the program, it would have been very helpful to the reader to understand the full scale and detail that went into the Nazis' lust for the treasure of other countries. Instead, mentions of the program are included briefly throughout the book, making it difficult for the reader to truly comprehend the time and effort the Nazis put into it.
The other big problem is that Edsel is bad at writing organizational history. "Monuments Men" is kinda supposed to be an organizational history. The beginning, where he talks about how the MFAA began, is okay. But throughout the book he repeatedly talks about how the MFAA were shorthanded, didn't have assistants, etc. But then suddenly assistants start showing up, and by the end of the book we find out there were hundreds of MFAA! I know the book focuses on Western Europe and that there were Monuments Men on other fronts. But Edsel does a poor job with following the full story of the MFAA.
Another issue is that Edsel makes up dialogue and internal monologues. If this was limited in nature, I could forgive it--after all, Edsel intended the book to be for a public, rather academic, audience. But there's just too much of it in the book, and it makes me question the veracity of many sections focusing on the characters. It's impossible for the reader to know where a characters' notes and diary entries ended and Edsel's imagination began.
Despite these many flaws, I still couldn't put down the book because the story of the art was so fascinating, and I am looking forward to the movie. But here is my suggestion, dear readers: if you want to read a book on this topic that includes dialogue and focuses on the American soldiers, read "Monuments Men." If you want to read a real professional history of the Nazi theft program and efforts to recover the art, that has a broader narrative and includes Russia, Italy, and other countries as well, read Lynn Nicholas' [b:The Rape of Europa.] Nicholas conducted extensive archival research, and her book is a detailed history of this subject. But it may be more detailed than some would like to read. So it's nice to have a choice!
Fascinating piece of history- something not often discussed. However, the writing was a bit arduous and repetitive. Non fiction runs the risk of coming across as a fact-laden high school history lesson and unfortunately, Edsel commits this crime. I sometimes nodded off at the back of the classroom.
Fascinating account of a little known group of men who made it their mission to salvage and save from destruction many of the world's greatest art treasures during World War 2. If it wasn't for their heroism and bravery, many of the world's great galleries, cathedrals and museums would be vastly impoverished.
Really liked it. Sometimes hard to follow all the different men - I had to keep referencing the character outlines in the front of the book. Information overload! For some people, it's manageable, but for me it was really a lot to take in. Aside from that, I loved it and obviously it's an incredible story.
This is a good historical account and has a handful of really good quotes from the Monuments Men’s journals and letters. While I enjoyed it, the narrative got a little too technical and textbook-ish at times and make some bits difficult to get through.
Excellent book. Movie version is terrible - typical Hollywood, overly sensationalizing and bastardizing the story.
I thought this book was incredibly interesting. The amount of detail that was provided on the creation of the "Monuments Men," the work they did, the enemy they faced, and the world they lived in was tremendous. One of the main reasons I only ranked this book three stars is that there was so much information - and so many different Monuments Men, even supporting players - that I would occasionally have to flip back to see where we left off (or more often, refer to the guide in the front to try to keep them straight). Not sure how Edsel would have streamlined though - most of the men worked individually or in teams. One way or another, a vivid - and previously unknown to me - look at behind the scenes work in WW2.