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612 reviews for:
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Robert M. Edsel
3.73 AVERAGE
612 reviews for:
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Robert M. Edsel
3.73 AVERAGE
An interesting look at a largely unknown group of World War 2 heroes. I first became interested in the story because I vaguely knew about the upcoming movie, then I read The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes and realized the movie was based on real life. It wasn't just some story George Clooney made up!
While there were many times I found it difficult to follow the story -- jumping back and forth between the Monuments Men made it difficult to keep up with any one road to art recovery -- I was fascinated by the men and women that were involved. I think I would have preferred it to be broken down into the path each MFAA officer took to recover the art, but that probably would have been just as tricky because there are so many moving parts. (Plus my biggest issue with any book that deals with war battles is that I become lost in the terminology and trying to keep 1st Army something separated from 3rd or 7th in my head.)
I'm very interested to see how they make this work as a film. I imagine they'll make them more of a cohesive group rather than the disorganized "group" the MFAA was. Either way, art history, true stories, WWII combined with George Clooney, Matt Damon, moving pictures in color -- can you really go wrong there? It'll be like Ocean's 11 meets the greatest art history story never told.
While there were many times I found it difficult to follow the story -- jumping back and forth between the Monuments Men made it difficult to keep up with any one road to art recovery -- I was fascinated by the men and women that were involved. I think I would have preferred it to be broken down into the path each MFAA officer took to recover the art, but that probably would have been just as tricky because there are so many moving parts. (Plus my biggest issue with any book that deals with war battles is that I become lost in the terminology and trying to keep 1st Army something separated from 3rd or 7th in my head.)
I'm very interested to see how they make this work as a film. I imagine they'll make them more of a cohesive group rather than the disorganized "group" the MFAA was. Either way, art history, true stories, WWII combined with George Clooney, Matt Damon, moving pictures in color -- can you really go wrong there? It'll be like Ocean's 11 meets the greatest art history story never told.
I want to give this a 3.5 because I more than liked it, but I did not "really" like it because of the pockets of slow text which in turn took me longer to read. Glad they made the story into a film (could have been better for all the information in this book), so that many people who would not read a historical text are exposed to this side of WWII as it is an important piece of history that is not typically discussed.
I learned a lot from the history part of this, but the narrative was pretty bad. The author or editor really seemed to have written it for a movie script. What?! No!!
This had less to do with talking about why the actual art/architecture was important, than with telling us why these (wonderful) men missed their wives.
This book did a disservice to the passion these men and Rose Valland (and probably other women never named) had...they risked their lives to find and save the most beautiful and culturally recognizable symbols of beauty, philosophy, technique, etc. and on and on.
I'm changing my stars to 2. The more I think about it the more I think it was cheaply written, and the more awestruck I am at the energy of the Monuments Men in real life.
What if?
This had less to do with talking about why the actual art/architecture was important, than with telling us why these (wonderful) men missed their wives.
This book did a disservice to the passion these men and Rose Valland (and probably other women never named) had...they risked their lives to find and save the most beautiful and culturally recognizable symbols of beauty, philosophy, technique, etc. and on and on.
I'm changing my stars to 2. The more I think about it the more I think it was cheaply written, and the more awestruck I am at the energy of the Monuments Men in real life.
What if?
A genuine delight. More narrative than historical/military non-fiction which, admittedly, causes one to question some the bias of information.
Fascinating— and lead me to google additional info about art preservation during WW2.
The story is very interesting, but the writing could have been better. It would have been awesome if Erik Larson had written it!
for an incredible subject and an even more amazing true life story, this non-fiction reads as pretty dry and repetitive to me. in edsel's attempt to be (and success at being) thorough and accurate, the book drags on, with semi-needless information included frequently. but because i was so enthralled with the concept and history of it, i kept reading til the end. i just wouldn't necessarily recommend it for others.
The story itself is fascinating, but the writing left a lot to be desired. A lot of the figures were only vaguely filled in and many of the descriptors were repetitive to the point that I began to wonder if an editor ever touched the book. Still a fascinating, if frustrating read.
excessively jumpy with narratives and locations (although i understand this was a necessary evil for a tale that jumps narratives and locations) - but fascinating. could have been more comprehensive - kind of a bummer to start reading a nonfiction work only to be told it didn't include italy. didn't feel long at all. although i'm sure the movie will oversimplify, it will be nice to see it linearly.
My favorite heavily-armed art historians continue to rescue Nazi loot in an attempt to prevent the sacking of Europa in northern Europe as the war shifts from Italy to France and Belgium and they try to explain that liberation does not mean "stuff a medieval manuscript in your bag."