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615 reviews for:
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Robert M. Edsel
3.73 AVERAGE
615 reviews for:
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Robert M. Edsel
3.73 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
adventurous
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
informative
tense
slow-paced
I bought this book partly because I buy every World War II book I see and partly because I liked the movie. The book follows the team from it's birth to the conclusion. These people did amazing work, attempting to recover the artworks that were stolen by the Nazis. I am glad some of these works were finally able to be recovered, and there have been other instances of artworks being recovered even fairly recently. I wonder how much is out there still hidden away or ruined. This was a very enlightening book. I really enjoyed it.
Wow! I put this book on my to-read list awhile back when I heard there was a movie coming out about it, and finally picked it up a few weeks ago. At first I struggled with it. It starts out painfully slow, and part of me was having a hard time emotionally caring about the efforts of a team of men to save art in Europe when there were thousands of people being tortured and starved to death in camp after camp around Germany at the same time. But finally the story picked up and I started appreciating the significance of what was going on. Without this team of men and a few other brave souls, thousands of priceless works of art could have been destroyed and many of our best art museums would be half empty. I've heard general references to the Nazis' looting and stealing of art, but I never knew much more about it. Renoir, Monet, Rembrandt, Vameer, etc. being stacked in tunnels underground and other such less-than-stellar hiding places...it's insane to contemplate.
The ending was worth the read. The many characters were difficult to follow but I gained a greater appreciation (especially after traveling to Europe) of how the men protected the history and culture of Europe.
Fantastic! Amazing! I just loved it! Such a great read.
Truly amazing account of a search and rescue of culture. It would be fascinating to have a history of various works of art displayed next to the work to know where a particular piece has been and was rescued (from possibly one of thousands of Nazi hiding places). It was so insightful to actually have a group of Monument Men during WWII that it's unfortunate it wasn't instituted in other wars (particular reference to the looting of the National Museum of Iraq in 2003).
One of the Monument Men, James Rorimer's words on his formula for success: "A good start, a willingness--even eagerness--to work beyond the call of duty, a sense of fair play, and a recognition of opportunities before and when they arrive. In other words, it is important to find a course and steer it."
One of the Monument Men, James Rorimer's words on his formula for success: "A good start, a willingness--even eagerness--to work beyond the call of duty, a sense of fair play, and a recognition of opportunities before and when they arrive. In other words, it is important to find a course and steer it."
This book was very interesting not just in what it said but also in what it did not say. Written as though the author was telling a story more than a historical reference, it gave me hope that history can be interesting!
I saw this movie a while back and was pleased to be able to read (listen to) it finally. There were a couple of parts that I kind of lost the thread of that I'm not sure were followed up, but that might be just because I don't listen a lot to non-fiction because I like to focus on every detail. But a very interesting story about very interesting men and women in WWII.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced