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A review by lovestodancw_81
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel
3.0
We do not want to destroy unnecessarily what men spent so much time and care and skill in making...{for} if these examples of craftsmanship tell us so much about our ancestors...If these things are lost or broken or destroyed, we lose a valuable part of our knowledge about our forefathers. No age lives entirely alone; every civilization is formed not merely by its own achievements but by what it has inherited from the past. If these things are destroyed, we have lost a part of our past, and we shall be the poorer for it.
This book is the first nonfiction book I've read about WWII that hasn't focused solely on the victims of genocide. In one light, this book seems insensitive because it takes the light off of the real victims of the war. On the other hand, it was enlightening to learn that the war was not just about human loss (although, of course it was) but it was also about the wholesale attempt to wipe out the entire existence and memory of cultures, which included all examples of written and artistic historical records.
It was interesting to learn about the tireless work of a very small team tasked with saving the world's greatest treasures. What drove these mostly middle-aged men to sign up for service straight into the dangerous front lines working often alone wasn't "just for duty. Success took conviction, a belief that the Monuments mission was not only right, but necessary. It couldn't be just a duty; it had to be a passion."
This book makes a good supplemental book to more comprehensive books about WWII. I think it suffered from trying to cover too much. It bounced from one art protector to another but the narrative seemed disjointed. Without having a thorough knowledge of the war and its major players, the reader would be lost reading this book. It covered the movement of the various Monuments Men in France and Germany in the last year of WWII. In the introduction, Edsel admitted to cutting out an entire section about the group's work in Italy.
This was the only WWII book I've read that didn't make me cry. I was uplifted by these hardworking players that were trying to mitigate the greatest theft in history and mitigate combat damage to and save more than 5 million stolen cultural objects. But the brief mentions of victims of the was missing heart. I watched the movie long before reading this book and although the movie was quite entertaining, the only thing about the movie that was true was that actual monuments men existed. Read the book to find out the actual story.
This book is the first nonfiction book I've read about WWII that hasn't focused solely on the victims of genocide. In one light, this book seems insensitive because it takes the light off of the real victims of the war. On the other hand, it was enlightening to learn that the war was not just about human loss (although, of course it was) but it was also about the wholesale attempt to wipe out the entire existence and memory of cultures, which included all examples of written and artistic historical records.
It was interesting to learn about the tireless work of a very small team tasked with saving the world's greatest treasures. What drove these mostly middle-aged men to sign up for service straight into the dangerous front lines working often alone wasn't "just for duty. Success took conviction, a belief that the Monuments mission was not only right, but necessary. It couldn't be just a duty; it had to be a passion."
This book makes a good supplemental book to more comprehensive books about WWII. I think it suffered from trying to cover too much. It bounced from one art protector to another but the narrative seemed disjointed. Without having a thorough knowledge of the war and its major players, the reader would be lost reading this book. It covered the movement of the various Monuments Men in France and Germany in the last year of WWII. In the introduction, Edsel admitted to cutting out an entire section about the group's work in Italy.
This was the only WWII book I've read that didn't make me cry. I was uplifted by these hardworking players that were trying to mitigate the greatest theft in history and mitigate combat damage to and save more than 5 million stolen cultural objects. But the brief mentions of victims of the was missing heart. I watched the movie long before reading this book and although the movie was quite entertaining, the only thing about the movie that was true was that actual monuments men existed. Read the book to find out the actual story.