Take a photo of a barcode or cover
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
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
I found this book interesting, but it became a chore to read. I'm glad that I read it, though and I think many of the details were lost in the movie. This is a part of history that we usually do not learn or hear about from other sources.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
The topic was really interesting, but I just could NOT get into it. I got a little more than halfway through and just didn't care any more. It might have been the writing style, or maybe there were just too many names to try to keep track of. I'm hoping the movie will turn out better, since the trailer made it seem as though there will be more action than the book offered.
Although the narrative has faults (repeating unecessary information on a regular basis and plodding along in places) this is an extremely important story that needs to be told and is told well here. Despite the narrative Edsel and Witter manage to get across the power, heroism and tragedy that is the legacy of The Monuments Men in a well researched and readable way. You know when you find yourself weeping through the epilogue that this tale is not one to forget in a hurry, and I'm grateful for the copious notes that provide further reading.
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
My appreciation for art grows by the year, and though I will never become an "art snob" so to speak, I have begun to learn how to enjoy it for myself. Most of the art I participate in is interactive and typically modern: music, dance, videogames, books and literature, movies and television.
Painting, sculpture, design, and architecture were never really a huge interest of mine, and yet I thoroughly enjoyed the Monuments Men movie when it came out years ago. Now that I've committed to reading the books that have inspired movies I have liked (or didn't like), I can read incredible true histories like this volume brought together by Robert Edsel.
This book is everything you'd want for a history of the MFAA, a small section of the US Army that was tasked with saving Europe's art from Nazi looting and destruction. The cast of people featured are dedicated professionals, perhaps none more so than Rose Valland, a French museum worker who, if this history is to be believed, may have been the most important person in the effort of tracking France's looted art. The personal histories of the many American men in the MFAA were also very interesting and provided a great overview of the late stages of World War II, the destruction wrought by both the Nazis and the Allies, and of the importance of the cultural history of Europe.
I am astonished at the sheer amount of research effort it must have taken to put together a book like this despite the fact I've read many of these kinds of history books. The effort likely involved dozens of interviews, hours upon hours of pouring through museum records and military histories, and visits to significant cultural spots in Europe that are, in the modern day, thoroughly changed from wartime. That last bit is important.
I believe this book takes on a more important feeling if you as the reader have personally been to Europe or engage with art regularly. On a recent trip to France, I stayed at the small town of Bayeux on my way to Omaha Beach. Bayeux has a museum entirely dedicated to the Bayeux Tapestry, an incredibly long cloth portraying a recorded history of the French invasion of England culminating in the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of England, one of the most important events in English history. Apparently, this very tapestry, which I saw mere months ago in November 2023, had been stored away safely during the Nazi occupation of France. It was displayed in Paris once it was liberated by the Allies. My personal connection and experience to this piece made this particular chapter and story important to me, in a similar way (if by orders of magnitude larger) I imagine Harry Etlinger's experience with Rembrandt's self portrait must have been, or any number of other art pieces to any of the Monuments Men. Two of the most important covered in this book are the panels of the Ghent altarpiece and Michaelangelo's sculpture of Madonna and Child.
Perhaps that's the role art always plays in peoples lives. You latch on to something that speaks to you. I have the luxury of being able to visit "Among the Sierra Nevada, California" by Albert Bierstadt at the National Portrait Gallery in DC basically whenever I want. Books like this fill out a deeper appreciation for this kind of cultural history. Perhaps art history in particular is worth looking into.
A recommend from me to art nerds and even military history enthusiasts. Edsel does a great job of covering not just the importance of art and the work the Monuments Men do, but also provides the greater context of the war and American, English, French, Belgian, and German culture as the war progressed and ended.
Also a quick note: for some reason, the movie changed the names of all the characters around. Also the movie "Hollywoodized" quite a few things. I cannot at this moment say the movie is historically accurate, but you do get a good idea of what the general mission was and why it was important.
Painting, sculpture, design, and architecture were never really a huge interest of mine, and yet I thoroughly enjoyed the Monuments Men movie when it came out years ago. Now that I've committed to reading the books that have inspired movies I have liked (or didn't like), I can read incredible true histories like this volume brought together by Robert Edsel.
This book is everything you'd want for a history of the MFAA, a small section of the US Army that was tasked with saving Europe's art from Nazi looting and destruction. The cast of people featured are dedicated professionals, perhaps none more so than Rose Valland, a French museum worker who, if this history is to be believed, may have been the most important person in the effort of tracking France's looted art. The personal histories of the many American men in the MFAA were also very interesting and provided a great overview of the late stages of World War II, the destruction wrought by both the Nazis and the Allies, and of the importance of the cultural history of Europe.
I am astonished at the sheer amount of research effort it must have taken to put together a book like this despite the fact I've read many of these kinds of history books. The effort likely involved dozens of interviews, hours upon hours of pouring through museum records and military histories, and visits to significant cultural spots in Europe that are, in the modern day, thoroughly changed from wartime. That last bit is important.
I believe this book takes on a more important feeling if you as the reader have personally been to Europe or engage with art regularly. On a recent trip to France, I stayed at the small town of Bayeux on my way to Omaha Beach. Bayeux has a museum entirely dedicated to the Bayeux Tapestry, an incredibly long cloth portraying a recorded history of the French invasion of England culminating in the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of England, one of the most important events in English history. Apparently, this very tapestry, which I saw mere months ago in November 2023, had been stored away safely during the Nazi occupation of France. It was displayed in Paris once it was liberated by the Allies. My personal connection and experience to this piece made this particular chapter and story important to me, in a similar way (if by orders of magnitude larger) I imagine Harry Etlinger's experience with Rembrandt's self portrait must have been, or any number of other art pieces to any of the Monuments Men. Two of the most important covered in this book are the panels of the Ghent altarpiece and Michaelangelo's sculpture of Madonna and Child.
Perhaps that's the role art always plays in peoples lives. You latch on to something that speaks to you. I have the luxury of being able to visit "Among the Sierra Nevada, California" by Albert Bierstadt at the National Portrait Gallery in DC basically whenever I want. Books like this fill out a deeper appreciation for this kind of cultural history. Perhaps art history in particular is worth looking into.
A recommend from me to art nerds and even military history enthusiasts. Edsel does a great job of covering not just the importance of art and the work the Monuments Men do, but also provides the greater context of the war and American, English, French, Belgian, and German culture as the war progressed and ended.
Also a quick note: for some reason, the movie changed the names of all the characters around. Also the movie "Hollywoodized" quite a few things. I cannot at this moment say the movie is historically accurate, but you do get a good idea of what the general mission was and why it was important.
medium-paced