Monuments Men

Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History

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Robert M. Edsel: Monuments Men (2013, Penguin Random House)

English language

Published June 16, 2013 by Penguin Random House.

ISBN:
978-1-4481-8315-9
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3 stars (3 reviews)

"In a race against time, a group 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 period between D-Day and V-E Day, this acclaimed book follows six Monument Men on their impossible mission to save the world's great art from the Nazis."--

This account presents the story of a special force of American and British curators, art historians, and other experts who risked their lives to prevent the destruction of cultural artifacts and structures during World War II.

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

  • Art thefts
  • World war, 1939-1945, confiscations and contributions
  • World war, 1939-1945, germany
  • World war, 1939-1945, art and the war
  • World war, 1939-1945, destruction and pillage
  • Art treasures in war
  • Cultural property, protection
  • World war, 1939-1945, europe