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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
So I am a huge proponent of reading the book before seeing the movie, so I confess I really only started to read this book because I saw they were making it into a movie this year. And I'm glad I did! It was a bit slow going at times, but for a completely historical non-fiction book, it definitely held my interest from beginning to end. I have always been interested in WW2 and of course I love art, so the juxtaposition of those two things is right up my alley. I was blown away by the extent of the Nazi looting of art, both from private collectors (Jewish and not) as well as public, state owned galleries. It's almost unfathomable the number of pieces they stole (and hid!). And the Monuments Men is such as interesting division of the military that I cannot believe has never existed since. I mean I know the focus of war is elsewhere, but for the near loss of so much beautiful European history to have been completely forgotten (and not learned from) is insane. I completely understand it being eclipsed by the Holocaust, but for it to still be as virtually unknown as it is...wow. I was impressed by the research presented in this book, the clear development of everything from an idea into the actual MFAA division, and how amazing it was that so few people accomplished so much preservation. Astounding.
"If, in time of peace, our museums and art galleries are important to the community, in time of war they are doubly valuable. For then, when the petty and the trivial fall way and we are face to face with final and lasting values, we… must summon to our defense all our intellectual and spiritual resources. We must guard jealously all we have inherited from a long past, all we are capable of creating in a trying present, and all we are determined to preserve in a foreseeable future. Art is the imperishable and dynamic expression of these aims. It is, and always has been, the visible evidence of the activity of free minds.” -Paul Sachs.
I do feel bad giving this book only 3 stars because it's definitely a solid 3.5, but it just isn't up there with my "highly recommend" books. It is a wonderful story and I'm glad Edsel told it, but there were a lot of little details and names and places that bogged down the story for me.
This is the sort of book that is difficult to rate because it's history about a particularly horrid time for humanity. I get emotional and it's harder for me to sort out the writing vs. the story. I decided to read this before I see the movie (I'm guessing at some point I will see the movie). I have a feeling this may be one time I like the movie better because there were some oddly slow moving sections of the book. I still would recommend this book to anyone just for the history alone.
Great story, terribly written. Lots of unnecessary embellishments and self-congratulations by the author.
An informative, well-written book on a mostly forgotten part of the second world war. One does not usually think of art historians, museum directors, sculptors, and other artists when one thinks of soldiers storming Normandy and fighting the Nazis in Europe. For anyone interested in what happened to the masterpieces and other cultural gems in Europe, this is the book for you.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
2 stars to honor the men and women who accomplished this mission and provided such an important service to our culture and history. 1 star for the quality of the writing and difficulty I had in trying to feel connected to the people in the story. The narrative was jumpy and repeated itself quite a bit in places. A few times, I thought I'd accidentally skipped back to an earlier section without knowing it.
I'm very glad this story was told and that we now have a book and movie to commemorate what these people accomplished. I was somewhat surprised at just how much liberty the movie took with the story, though. They didn't really seem to try too hard to convey much in the way of factual details in the movie.
I'm very glad this story was told and that we now have a book and movie to commemorate what these people accomplished. I was somewhat surprised at just how much liberty the movie took with the story, though. They didn't really seem to try too hard to convey much in the way of factual details in the movie.
I really wanted to like this book, but I just felt like I was trudging through mud to get through it. It got to the point that I was just continuing so I could be done with it. I really think what these men did was amazing and wonderful, but I got lost in the names of paintings and historical sites. I think if you were really into art and knew the history and importance of these works it would be a lot more interesting.
A Reader's Corner Highly Recommended Read. This is the classic true story of the Allied effort to save the world's art treasures and architecture from destruction during WWII. The small but gallant force of men and women who gave their all to save world culture for posterity is a story few know, but one that everyone should take the time to learn.