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Now a major motion film! At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. The Fuehrer had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect as well as the art he would destroy: "degenerate" works he despised. In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Monuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture. Focusing on the eleven-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account from Robert Edsel and Bret Witter follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world's great art from the Nazis.
VictoriaPL: Lady with an Ermine (attributed to da Vinci) was taken by the Nazis in Poland and later recovered by Monuments Men. This is a fictionalized telling of the creation of the painting and its journey during WWII.
I discovered that this book existed by watching the trailer for its film adaptation, which was unfortunately not very well reviewed. The book, however, is well-written and fascinating. It doesn’t have quite the epic scope of [b:Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest|42389|Band of Brothers E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest|Stephen E. Ambrose|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388247701s/42389.jpg|903474], but provides an interesting and novel angle on the European theatre of the Second World War. The ‘Monuments Men’ of the title were given the huge and impossible responsibility of protecting historic monuments and recovering Nazi-looted artwork across Northern Europe. The book begins by introducing the few men and one woman who did this work, emphasising the great difficulty there was in getting any such organisation set up at all. Given the exigencies of the war this isn’t entirely surprising, although the Nazis has a strong sense of the importance of artistic and cultural control in the suppression of those they considered inferior. To battle them on this front, the Monuments Men sought to emphasise that treasures of history enrich everyone and should not be controlled and censored by a single repressive regime. The second half of the book, which deals with the final year and aftermath of the war, features the repatriation of many incredible works of art. The stories of a self-portrait by Rembrandt, Vermeer’s ‘The Astronomer’, and the Ghent Altarpiece are given especial notice.
Prior to reading this book, I hadn’t realised the sheer rapacity with which the Nazis appropriated art from the places they invaded and occupied. This book describes the grand museum and art gallery that Hitler planned to build, the apex of a massive redesign of his hometown. It would have essentially contained all the art he liked best, stolen from around the world. The sheer effort that the Nazi regime put into art theft is extraordinary. The most exciting parts of the book are all towards the end, as the Monuments Men discover salt mines filled with precious art pieces, together with explosives to destroy them. Given Hitler’s scorched earth orders, that anything the allies could use should be destroyed, it is amazing how much survived. The book is careful to ascribe this survival not only to the Monuments Men themselves, but also Germans, including certain Nazis, who were not prepared to follow this order when the war was so clearly lost. That said, the author also acknowledges how much was not recovered and was either destroyed or still remains lost. Himmler’s collection of art, for example, was apparently burnt by the SS.
Overall, I think this book is an effective tribute to a rarely-acknowledged group of people. Their hard work and bravery during the Second World War is now taken for granted, as we gaze at beautiful paintings and sculptures in museums. So many amazing works could have been blown up at the bottom of mines, a terrible loss to the world. In particular, I liked the respect accorded to Rose Valland, who worked in the Louvre during the occupation and quietly kept track of where the Nazis were taking the works they appropriated. Her courage was incredible and without her information the Monuments Men would have been a great deal less successful. The stories of all the people concerned are moving and well-told, though. I enjoyed reading this book for the interesting new understanding it provided, despite the sombre subject matter. I definitely recommend it. ( )
great read focused on the stories of about 8 men- a manageable #.Balanced, for the most part-showing that some Nazi's took steps to protect the art-while others were everybody's idea of a Nazi. Fills a void, gaining some recognition for these brave people ( )
So I finished Robert Edsel's The Monument Men: Allied Heroes Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History. For those that saw and enjoyed the movie, this is so much better.
The book goes into small biographical histories of the original Monument Men, their various educational and career backgrounds, and their goal to save the stolen treasures of World War II and treasured architectural buildings in all of Europe including whenever possible those of the Axis Powers.
The book goes into the salt mine in Germany but also highlights other hiding spots around France. Belgium and Germany that were stolen by the Nazi’s. It also attempts to save from Hitler's Nero Decree to destroy any artwork rather that have it retrieved by the Allied Forces.
A solid 4.5 to 5 star book for me. I loved it add recommend it to all World War II students to see another side of the war. ( )
The hunters' exploits make a fascinating read. Edsel carefully and colorfully backgrounds "The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History" with vivid accounts of the war's progress. But statements that recall films "based on a true story" may put some readers off. An author's note says he created dialogue for continuity but not on substance, and always with documentation.
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Whatever these paintings may have been to men who looked at them a generation back - today they are not only works of art. Today they are the symbols of the human spirit, and of the world the freedom of the human spirit made. . . . To accept this work today is to assert the purpose of the people of America that the freedom of the human spirit and human mind which has produced the world's great art and all its science - shall not be utterly destroyed.- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, dedication ceremony of the National Gallery of Art, March 17, 1941
It used to be called plundering. But today things have become more humane. In spite of that, I intend to plunder, and to do it thoroughly. - Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring, speaking to a conference of Reich Commissioners for the Occupied Territories and the Military Commanders, Berlin, August 6, 1942
Dedica
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To my mother Norma, aunt Marilyn, and son Diego - The memory of my father and uncle, A. Ray Edsel and Ron B. Wright, both veterans - And the Monuments Men and women, whose heroic efforts preserved so much of the beauty we enjoy today
Incipit
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(Author's Note) Most of us are aware that World War II was the most destructive war in history.
The city of Karlsruhe, in southwestern Germanyk, was founded in 1715 by the Margrave Karl Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach.
Citazioni
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AS impossible as it seems, it was the duty of these eight officers to inspect and preserve every important monument the Allied forces encountered between the English Channel and Berlin.
Ultime parole
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No one seemed interested in the fact that the painting was the Rembrandt from the museum in Karlsruhe, and that the nineteen-year-old soldier standing next to it was a German Jew who had grown up three blocks from that museum, and by chance had descended seven undred feet into a mine to behold, for the first time, a painting he had always heard about, but never had the right to see.
Now a major motion film! At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. The Fuehrer had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect as well as the art he would destroy: "degenerate" works he despised. In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Monuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture. Focusing on the eleven-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account from Robert Edsel and Bret Witter follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world's great art from the Nazis.
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Prior to reading this book, I hadn’t realised the sheer rapacity with which the Nazis appropriated art from the places they invaded and occupied. This book describes the grand museum and art gallery that Hitler planned to build, the apex of a massive redesign of his hometown. It would have essentially contained all the art he liked best, stolen from around the world. The sheer effort that the Nazi regime put into art theft is extraordinary. The most exciting parts of the book are all towards the end, as the Monuments Men discover salt mines filled with precious art pieces, together with explosives to destroy them. Given Hitler’s scorched earth orders, that anything the allies could use should be destroyed, it is amazing how much survived. The book is careful to ascribe this survival not only to the Monuments Men themselves, but also Germans, including certain Nazis, who were not prepared to follow this order when the war was so clearly lost. That said, the author also acknowledges how much was not recovered and was either destroyed or still remains lost. Himmler’s collection of art, for example, was apparently burnt by the SS.
Overall, I think this book is an effective tribute to a rarely-acknowledged group of people. Their hard work and bravery during the Second World War is now taken for granted, as we gaze at beautiful paintings and sculptures in museums. So many amazing works could have been blown up at the bottom of mines, a terrible loss to the world. In particular, I liked the respect accorded to Rose Valland, who worked in the Louvre during the occupation and quietly kept track of where the Nazis were taking the works they appropriated. Her courage was incredible and without her information the Monuments Men would have been a great deal less successful. The stories of all the people concerned are moving and well-told, though. I enjoyed reading this book for the interesting new understanding it provided, despite the sombre subject matter. I definitely recommend it. (