Monuments Men

allied heroes, Nazi thieves, and the greatest treasure hunt in history

662 pages

English language

Published June 16, 2014 by W F Howes.

ISBN:
978-1-4712-5850-3
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OCLC Number:
872711807

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3 stars (3 reviews)

From 1943 to 1951, 350 or so men and women from 13 Allied nations served in the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of the Allied armed forces. This was the most ambitious effort in history to preserve the worlds cultural heritage in times of war. They were known simply as 'Monuments Men'. This is their story.

12 editions

Review of 'The monuments men' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

An interesting story that deserves to be recorded. As a student of the history of WWII I was aware that the Nazis looted art and that much of that art ended up in large hoards uncovered by the US Army at the end of the war, but the details were unknown to me.

Since I probably wouldn't have read this book if not for the upcoming movie, I think it's fair to mention that the book did not make me think that it needed to be made into a movie. Indeed, watching the trailer, nearly everything that appears in it is fiction made for the movie and not incidents from the book.

I would guess that the main thing going for the story for filmmakers was to give a group of 40+ year old actors a semi-legitimate reason to dress up in fatigues and make one more war movie (and …

avatar for LemonSky

rated it

4 stars

Subjects

  • History
  • Art thefts
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • Confiscations and contributions
  • Art and the war
  • Destruction and pillage
  • Art treasures in war
  • Cultural property
  • Protection
  • Large type books
  • Confiscations
  • Allied Forces. Supreme Headquarters. Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section
  • Allied Forces

Places

  • Germany
  • Europe