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First, a confession. I started this book in March 2014, so let's just say it's not a gripping read. That said, it IS an interesting, if dry, read.
The Monuments Men were a small group of men, part of the U.S. military in the latter stages of World War II, who were tasked with locating and, whenever possible, preserving works of art, archives and architecture in war-demolished Europe. Part of their job was traveling along with or just behind the front lines troops, trying to locate non-destroyed structures and keep them from being further damaged by Allied troops. Increasingly, their job became about finding and protecting the literally thousands of art treasures looted by the Nazis from all over Europe. Those treasures had been stored in castles, salt mines, bunkers, and all sorts of caves inside Nazi Germany.
The adventures in the book are fascinating. The idea of trying to protect and remove hundreds of works of art from mines multiple stories below ground, with spotty electricity (oh, and often stored with a huge stash of various munitions) and sometimes passages only barely wide enough for two people, was both impressive and more than a little horrifying. (I should admit that I have no fondness for caves at all.)
I appreciate Edsel for giving due credit to Rose Valland, a French national who provided priceless information to the Monuments Men, gleaned from her time working as a spy posing as a mild-mannered secretary to the Nazis.
The writing, sadly, is not as riveting as some of the stories. It's still a good read if you're interested in World War II or art history.
The Monuments Men were a small group of men, part of the U.S. military in the latter stages of World War II, who were tasked with locating and, whenever possible, preserving works of art, archives and architecture in war-demolished Europe. Part of their job was traveling along with or just behind the front lines troops, trying to locate non-destroyed structures and keep them from being further damaged by Allied troops. Increasingly, their job became about finding and protecting the literally thousands of art treasures looted by the Nazis from all over Europe. Those treasures had been stored in castles, salt mines, bunkers, and all sorts of caves inside Nazi Germany.
The adventures in the book are fascinating. The idea of trying to protect and remove hundreds of works of art from mines multiple stories below ground, with spotty electricity (oh, and often stored with a huge stash of various munitions) and sometimes passages only barely wide enough for two people, was both impressive and more than a little horrifying. (I should admit that I have no fondness for caves at all.)
I appreciate Edsel for giving due credit to Rose Valland, a French national who provided priceless information to the Monuments Men, gleaned from her time working as a spy posing as a mild-mannered secretary to the Nazis.
The writing, sadly, is not as riveting as some of the stories. It's still a good read if you're interested in World War II or art history.