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marlan 's review for:
Starts out strong, telling the rise and fall of Jews in a European town from the town's founding to Kristallnacht, and the Jewish boy born there who would eventually grow up to be a Monuments Man. After that, the book loses a bit of steam, going into detail about the internal politics and bureaucracy of getting the Monuments organization established.
I think this just isn't the book I wanted to read. I'm interested in art, and the Nazi stealing of art, and efforts to hide/recover these masterpieces. I'm not so interested in reading about soldiers figuring out how they can requisition needed supplies or get themselves transferred to another city.
While Edsel pays great attention to detail and accuracy, the writing often had an encyclopedic, tell-don't-show quality to it. Instead of offering real-life examples that allow readers to see what kind of person someone is, we're flat-out told his personality. It left me unable to engage with the characters.
The parts I really enjoyed were the historical tidbits (the Louvre got much of its art from Napoleonic looting), and stories of specific works of art, like the Ghent Alterpiece or the night the Nazis stole the Bruges Madonna. Good book to read while having Wikipedia or Google Images open on your computer, so you can see the art he's writing about. I would have loved a book about the adventures of specific works of art: when they were created, their importance, their theft by the Nazis, and their eventual recovery (or disappearance).
It's not this book's fault that it's not about that - it is called "Monuments Men," after all, and not "A Series of Vignettes about Nazi-stolen Art." I'd still recommend this book to WWII buffs who want a new twist on their favorite topic. Perfect gift for Dad/Grandpa/the historian in your family.
Bottom line: It's a WWII book that happens to be about art. I'll have to keep looking for an stealing-art book that happens to take place during WWII.
I think this just isn't the book I wanted to read. I'm interested in art, and the Nazi stealing of art, and efforts to hide/recover these masterpieces. I'm not so interested in reading about soldiers figuring out how they can requisition needed supplies or get themselves transferred to another city.
While Edsel pays great attention to detail and accuracy, the writing often had an encyclopedic, tell-don't-show quality to it. Instead of offering real-life examples that allow readers to see what kind of person someone is, we're flat-out told his personality. It left me unable to engage with the characters.
The parts I really enjoyed were the historical tidbits (the Louvre got much of its art from Napoleonic looting), and stories of specific works of art, like the Ghent Alterpiece or the night the Nazis stole the Bruges Madonna. Good book to read while having Wikipedia or Google Images open on your computer, so you can see the art he's writing about. I would have loved a book about the adventures of specific works of art: when they were created, their importance, their theft by the Nazis, and their eventual recovery (or disappearance).
It's not this book's fault that it's not about that - it is called "Monuments Men," after all, and not "A Series of Vignettes about Nazi-stolen Art." I'd still recommend this book to WWII buffs who want a new twist on their favorite topic. Perfect gift for Dad/Grandpa/the historian in your family.
Bottom line: It's a WWII book that happens to be about art. I'll have to keep looking for an stealing-art book that happens to take place during WWII.