The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History

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The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History

by Robert M. Edsel, Bret Witter (Contributor)

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 1,217 ratings · 233 reviews

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 Am...more

Hardcover, 496 pages

Published September 3rd 2009 by Center Street (first published 2009)

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Jul 24, 2010 Darkpool rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, auckland-library, read-in-2010, historical

So interesting. A bit slow to begin with as the background leading up to the need for the protection of Western Europe's cultural heritage during WWII. The bulk of this book follows the monuments men following the Normandy landing as the Allies swept across the western countries of Europe and into Germany. The narration is chronological, so we have frequent jumps between location and people, so the list of the main players at the front of the book was invaluable for helping get the different peo...more

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Jan 04, 2010 Lynn Pribus rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very thoroughly researched and completely new information to me -- the small group of men who strove to protect and recover works of art that were plundered, stolen and "removed for safekeeping" by the Nazis during WWII.

I listened to it and while the reader did adopt some accents, he really just read the book rather than performing it. Some sections were inclined to be a bit, well, long on detail, but overall a very interesting book with staggering statistics.

Thousands of art works and historic...more

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Mar 28, 2010 Tom Emory Jr. rated it 3 of 5 stars

BEWARE THE AUDIO -- Stopped before the end of the second of six audio CDs. The reader, Jeremy Davidson, in addition to a failure to correctly pronounce the names of well-known people and places, thinks he's Olivier with his accents. His British accent is irritating but his German accent really put me over the wall.

The audio version is abridged and, even though I was not through the second CD, I could sense the gaps and cuts to the text.

I plan to read the book. It's a good enough story to devote...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

As great museums like the Metropolitan or the Chicago Art Institute have in recent years worked to return artwork from their collections that was looted during WWII, I've wondered how they might have acquired these in the first place. This book tells you, in jaw dropping detail. It describes the small group of U.S. military men and women tasked by Eisenhower to try to protect Europe's art, architecture, historic places, from war. The Nazis carted off everything they could get their hands on, inc...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Andrew Brozyna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: wwii

As a veteran of tedious art history classes and a WWII history buff, I was excited to read this book. It details the Allied efforts to track down and reclaim the great art stolen by the Nazis in Europe. The men of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section rode in on the heals of the liberating forces, often arriving while a city was still under enemy fire. They sought out known artworks, protected what was left behind by the retreating Germans (mostly monuments and buildings), and used dete...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: lovers of art history

Shelves: non-fiction, art-history

A wonderful book for anyone interested in art, history or both. The book tells the largely forgotten story of a small cadre of American and British military personnel who strove to recuperate, preserve and protect the patrimony of the European countries that had been steamrolled by the Nazi war machine - including Germany itself! A handful of dedicated art lovers followed the advancing Allied forces after the invasion of Italy and D-day, trying desperately and with minimal support and resources,...more A wonderful book for anyone interested in art, history or both. The book tells the largely forgotten story of a small cadre of American and British military personnel who strove to recuperate, preserve and protect the patrimony of the European countries that had been steamrolled by the Nazi war machine - including Germany itself! A handful of dedicated art lovers followed the advancing Allied forces after the invasion of Italy and D-day, trying desperately and with minimal support and resources, to keep priceless art safe. This could mean anything from organizing local masons to shore up the crumbling walls of a bombed-out church, to following the trail of the art treasures looted from the Louvre through the Nazi bureaucracy, to supervising the removal of paintings and sculpture from the underground salt mines where the Nazis had stored them. This effort was led by George Stout, art preservation specialist at the Harvard Fogg museum, and James Rorimer, specialist of Medieval Art at the Cloisters in NYC. Despite physical danger and hardships, lack of support and the general chaos of war, this handful of men, with the help of local art specialists, succeeded in rescuing thousands and thousands of pieces of art.

The book succeeds in weaving together several strands and themes. There is the chronological and geographical progress of the monuments men as they work their way from the beaches of Normandy or Italy to the salt mines and castles of Austria, where much of the art was hidden. There is the underlying theme of the chaos of war, especially as the Nazis start to retreat, leaving behind starving, lawless communities. There is the theme of the "love of art" that prominent Nazis like Hitler and Goring used as an excuse for their pillaging and looting. One of the things that I liked about the book was that it showed, in a non-sentimental way, how art and history can be a uniting force for communities and people. For instance, there is a story describing how the inhabitants of a Belgian village that was completely destroyed by the Battle of the Bulge, were united in an effort to carry their most precious art treasure, a medieval wooden Madonna, to safety. Sometimes the love of art could unite people from opposite sides of the war, as in the case of the German art expert who worked with the French director of the Louvre in order to minimize the looting of that museum. The horrors of war are only slightly touched upon, although never avoided or whitewashed. A lot of attention is also given to the local art experts, like Rose Valland of the Musee du Jeu de Paume in Paris, who quietly worked behind the scenes during the Occupation to keep track of the disappearing art treasures and was instrumental in having a train full of stolen art stopped before it diseappeared into Germany (a story later turned into the movie "The Train" with Burt Lancaster). My favorite human interest story was that of Harry Ettlinger, a Jewish boy growing up in Karsruhe, Germany, who was prohibited by anti-semitic laws to enter the local museum where a famous Rembrandt portrait was on display and a print of which was the pride of his grandfather's modest personal collection. His family emigrated to the USA within hours of his Bar Mitzva in 1938, and a few years later the teenaged Harry entered the US army. Assigned to work with the Monuments Men as a translator, he found himself part of the team that retrieved not just the Rembrandt painting, but his own grandfather's print of the work !

This book is a great read for non-specialists with a general interest in the history of art, art theft, or some of the forgotten aspects of WWII. It is well written, with enough technical, historical and military detail to allow the reader to follow the story, but it never becomes tedious. (less)

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Feb 11, 2012 theduckthief rated it 4 of 5 stars

"The reconstruction of Europe after World War II was one of the most complicated and comprehensive international efforts of modern times. The identity and infrastructure of the nations of Europe had to be rebuilt and the restitution of artwork was a vital component. To say the war was the greatest upheaval of cultural items in history would be a grave understatement. In the end, the Western Allies discovered more than one thousand repositories in southern Germany alone, containing millions of wo...more "The reconstruction of Europe after World War II was one of the most complicated and comprehensive international efforts of modern times. The identity and infrastructure of the nations of Europe had to be rebuilt and the restitution of artwork was a vital component. To say the war was the greatest upheaval of cultural items in history would be a grave understatement. In the end, the Western Allies discovered more than one thousand repositories in southern Germany alone, containing millions of works of art and other cultural treasures, including church bells, stained glass, religious items, municipal records, manuscripts, books, libraries, wine, gold, diamonds, and even insect collections."

This book tells the little known story of the Monuments Men, experts in the art field tasked with locating, recovering, preserving and repatriating art looted by the Nazis. This small band of men faced an almost insurmountable task. The amount of irreplaceable art and artifacts taken by the Nazis was staggering and whole of the Monuments Men consisted of less than 400 people to look after the entire western half of Europe.

What I loved about this book was how these men came from ordinary backgrounds and accomplished extraordinary things. They were architects and scholars, working in museums and universities; some had little to no training in the preservation and transportation of precious artwork. The odds were against them from the start but it's their dedication and the fact that they were willing to put their lives at risk to save mankind's art history that make you root for them. They are the ultimate underdogs where they not only fought against the Nazis but against the clock. "What if we win the war, but lose the last five hundred years of our cultural history on our watch?" Much of the art was stored in mines to protect them from bombing but these places were not always suitable for storing fragile works of art for years at a time. They were prone to cave ins and flooding while the art was also susceptible to moisture and looters.

I really liked the chronological nature of the book. As the war unfolded, so did the search for the art. I was caught up as much as the Monuments Men were and I found myself filled with anxiety over certain works that were missing. I also got to follow various members of the group as they tramped around Europe, following troops, striking out on their own, stealing supplies, commandeering vehicles, men and the help of local civilians if needed.

There are also some great photos and maps to illustrate what Edsel is talking about. A main character crew list with photos and short bios is included in the beginning which puts faces to the men the reader follows. I wish the art photos hadn't been clustered together though but rather interspersed throughout. For example, whenever the Ghent Altarpiece was mentioned I had to keep flipping back to the photo to remind myself what it looked like as there's a wide variety of works mentioned and it's tough to keep everything straight.

Learning about these men and everything they went through, I shared in their triumphs and failures. I worried about them and feared for their safety. Edsel made me feel like I was there. It was exciting and nerve-wracking and hearbreaking, a great read! If you like art history and WWII then this book is for you.(less)

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Sep 30, 2011 AMessyRenaissance rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

I picked this book up after watching the documentary, “Rape of Europa”. I was completely fascinated by the stories of the people and the art the documentary detailed and wanted to know more. I figured that by reading the books the documentary used as source material, I would get the bigger picture. I started with, “Monuments Men” by Robert Edsel and have “Rape of Europa” next on my shelf.

This is probably the first American World War II history book I have ever read that wasn’t part of school cur...more I picked this book up after watching the documentary, “Rape of Europa”. I was completely fascinated by the stories of the people and the art the documentary detailed and wanted to know more. I figured that by reading the books the documentary used as source material, I would get the bigger picture. I started with, “Monuments Men” by Robert Edsel and have “Rape of Europa” next on my shelf.

This is probably the first American World War II history book I have ever read that wasn’t part of school curriculum reading. I completely admit to a lack of knowledge about the nitty gritty of World War II on-the-ground-facts. This book was full of that and with the added angle of the art world, a personal interest, I was completely fascinated. I’m not sure if someone with a better historical education of World War II would find the individual stories as interesting as I did. I also think that if you don’t really care about art in general, you won’t find this as interesting.

This is the story of the Monuments Men, a group of soldiers (they were never a formed unit, rather just individuals who were attached to specific battalions) entrusted with protecting the entire cultural heritage of Western Europe for the Allies in World War II. Such a mission had never before been undertaken and, in modern times, was not undertaken again until after the first Iraq war. These men were right behind or on the front lines, attempting to minimize damage to cultural landmarks from aerial bombings and fighting, cataloging the astounding looting of art by the Nazis and beginning the search for and restoration of the looted art to the correct owners.

I also enjoyed the larger story told of the war itself. Most of it centered on the drive towards and invasion of Germany. Most of the time you read or study the invasion of France on the shores of Normandy, then you study how the Allies war machine turned towards this country and that country and were joined by this Ally and that Ally and the decision making processes of their leaders; there isn’t too much about the individual troops on the ground who aren’t necessarily anyone important. This book told some of their stories and recognized them as small cogs in a massive war machine which couldn't be denied. This book also told the story of the actual invasion of Germany, which I had never learned about before.

The story is extraordinary. The Monument Men were fighting to save historical buildings that were being fought over room by room. Every time they found another cache of looted art, they were forced to improvise methods to save it, sometimes from conditions that were destroying it before they could get to it. But the parts I truly enjoyed the most were the stories of the individual soldiers. Letters from husbands to wives are in these pages and stories of strength, courage and horror are here are well.

The book is very well-researched and written. I think Mr. Edsel does a good job balancing the individual stories against the background of the larger personalities and war. There is only one section of the book that I felt like was bogged down in dates, names and other dry facts, but it goes by quickly and didn’t change my enjoyment in the end.

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Oct 20, 2010 Curmudgeon66 rated it 4 of 5 stars

I heard the Author on Relevant Radio's Morning Air show. http://www.relevantradio.com/ It sounded good, so when I spotted this at the local B&N I bought it.

Starts off a little slow, but sort of grows on one. I've read all kinds of histories of WWII, and I knew that there had been some kind of organization that did something with art works, but I never before knew any details.

It was interesting to get to know a little bit more about some of the individuals involved, although I think the aut...more

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May 21, 2010 Kathleen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Art tied up with history--not so much art history, but the fascinating story of the recovery of European art stolen by the Nazis by a relatively few but very dedicated group of curators, architects, sculptors and art professors from America and England. They follow the Allied armies into France soon after D-Day in Normandy, and some are actually killed in action. The two art works Edsel showcases are the Bruges Madonna by Michelangelo and the Ghent Altarpiece, both found hidden with thousands of...more

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Jan 31, 2010 Carl Brookins rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not a mystery, and not fiction, but the story rooted in the fog of war and the number of questions still unanswered reads like the best mystery fiction. Not a thriller, but full of thrilling, death-defying action, a book written with passion and fire, if not the most meticulous attention to structure and detail, this cautionary tale should be part of the required reading at the Naval Academy, West Point and the Air Force Academy.
It should also be read by every national politician who contempla...more Not a mystery, and not fiction, but the story rooted in the fog of war and the number of questions still unanswered reads like the best mystery fiction. Not a thriller, but full of thrilling, death-defying action, a book written with passion and fire, if not the most meticulous attention to structure and detail, this cautionary tale should be part of the required reading at the Naval Academy, West Point and the Air Force Academy.
It should also be read by every national politician who contemplates sending invading armies to foreign lands.
Beginning in 1938 and lasting until the final days of World War II, Nazi conquerors in Europe and North Africa, began methodical and illegal acquisition of both public and private cultural works of art in the nations under their control.
By the millions, paintings, sculptures, tapestries furniture and prints were collected, logged and shipped to Germany. Some pieces went to Hitler, others to Goring, Borman, Himmler and other party officials. The owners, many wealthy members of the Jewish middle class, after watching their belongings plundered, were themselves shipped off to labor and concentration camps.
In 1943 a small group of ordinary men were recruited by the American government in anticipation of the western invasion of Europe These men, active in the cultural affairs of the United States, formed the Monuments , Fine Arts and Archives section. With no resources other than what they could scrounge, the FAA were given a single mission: locate, assess and protect the cultural heritage of the European continent. They often worked at the very edges of the battle lines. Through persuasion, persistence and high commitment, the members of MFAA and the small number of European supporters they were able to attract, were victorious in saving many buildings and large works of immovable culture from destruction by bombing and other effects of the war.
MFAA men went ashore in the early waves at Normandy and traveled with the armies. They experienced the hardships of front-line activity and two of the members died as a result of combat. Throughout they stayed true to their mission, protecting cultural monuments and following tortuous trails of records and information gleaned in endless interrogations of Nazi party members involved in the theft and shipping of vast numbers of art and cultural items to secret hideouts in castles like Neuschwanstein and the salt mines of Merkers.
A great many pieces perhaps thousands of significant Impressionist and other paintings along with other art are still missing. Some will continue to be located and returned to the descendents of rightful owners, some of the art is lost forever.
This story of the MFAA, mostly lost in time, needs to be retold for history does repeat itself. In 2002 invading American military allowed looters to nearly destroy the thousand years old collection that was held by the Baghdad National Museum. There is now a project to locate and return missing artifacts. Had this story of the MFAA been preserved and properly recorded, there might have been the proper actions taken to protect the collections in Iraq.
The Monuments Men is a fascinating story that needs to be retold.
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Feb 22, 2013 Ilze rated it 3 of 5 stars

At this particular point in history, it is quite an occasion to come upon such a huge, unbelievable story that one has never heard of before, as is the case with Edsel's "The Monuments Men". It is clear that this book has been long in the making and that the author has done a mind-boggling amount of research, which is precisely and clearly reflected in the book. Even I, who understand almost nothing of art, was humbled by the story and the work of its main heroes.
However, I could not care less f...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, military, non-fiction

I received this book as a review copy from the publisher. "The Monuments Men" uses letters written by the Monuments Men and other documents to tell the story why the MFAA section was created and what eight of those men encountered while doing work in Normandy, France and in Germany.

The author assumes the reader doesn't know much about WWII and so fills in the details about the war occurring around them as we learn where they went and what they found and did there. The first part is mainly about...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Caroline rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: world-war-2

The Nazis were perhaps the greatest art-thieves in history, intent not just on conquering nations and enslaving and murdering large groups of people, but also on appropriating the most important cultural and artistic items in Western Europe for the benefit of Germany and the Third Reich. Untold numbers of paintings, sculptures, prints, documents, even stained glass windows and carved doors were all packed up and transported to Germany, many for Hitler and Göring's private collections. But many m...more The Nazis were perhaps the greatest art-thieves in history, intent not just on conquering nations and enslaving and murdering large groups of people, but also on appropriating the most important cultural and artistic items in Western Europe for the benefit of Germany and the Third Reich. Untold numbers of paintings, sculptures, prints, documents, even stained glass windows and carved doors were all packed up and transported to Germany, many for Hitler and Göring's private collections. But many more by far were hidden away in secret storehouses, bunkers, abandoned mines, all for the future day when the war would be over and Germany victorious.

That such a day never came is obviously the subject of an endless number of books - this book is concerned with the effort of a small group of men and women to discover the locations of these artistic treasure troves and to ensure the art was returned to the nations and individuals it had been stolen from. The MFAA (Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program) scarcely numbered more than 400, and the majority of these were only assigned after the end of the war. In the final years of the war, the main figures in the MFAA, followed in this book, operated almost entirely alone, with no resources, no infrastructure, no guidance, sometimes not even transportation - often in a race against time to discover the locations before they were destroyed in accordance with Hitler's scorched earth 'Nero Decree'.

It's a fascinating story, a real life Indiana Jones tale, and it's no surprise this book is now being turned into a film. The men and women detailed in this book are real heroes, risking their lives for the sake of artistic treasures, to return the cultural heritage of nations to their rightful places, even those belonging to Germany. It's very easy to overlook such 'minor' considerations in the middle of war - one only needs to use as example the looting of the Baghdad Museum during the invasion of Iraq in recent years - but the culture of a nation plays such an important part in its identity, all the more important in the wake of a devastating war like World War 2.

My one criticism is that is almost entirely US-focused; there is scarcely a mention of the work done by any non-American members of the Monuments Men, which was an Allied venture, not merely an American one.(less)

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Oct 15, 2012 Steven rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, history, nonfiction, library

While the reader's attempts at accents often fell rather flat, it didn't stop this from being an interesting read that chronicles the work of a tiny, rather haphazard group of people in both the US and British military who were tasked with the often close-to-impossible job of recovering art and artifacts stolen and sequestered by, for the most part, the Nazis, with the Italians having swiped a smaller share of things. This is a tale of determination and madness -- the "Nero Doctrine" that Hitler...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Neil S Friedman rated it 5 of 5 stars

This absorbing story about the ambitious, unwavering attempts to preserve pieces of European culture during the last years of WWII is a remarkable, yet shamefully, overlooked episode. Though non-fiction, it reads like page-turning fiction. The book gives belated recognition to the men and women who took part in the "greatest treasure hunt" in history.
While Adolph Hitler was the architect of the Holocaust, he also orchestrated and looted his victims, as well as Europe’s cultural institutions, of...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Deborah rated it 4 of 5 stars

My husband read this book and told me about it as he was reading it. It is the true story of a group of men who were charged with protecting, recovering, and restoring, as best they could, the architecture and art of Europe during and after WWII. The looting and destruction of art and architecture robs a people of their culture, so the Nazis purposefully set out to destroy the works of those peoples they felt were inferior (Poles, Jews, etc.). Goering and Hitler were obsessed with obtaining as m...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Jb rated it 4 of 5 stars

A few military men during World War II were designated to ensure that Europe’s art works did not sustain undue damage from acts of war. They succeeded in many respects, identifying cathedrals, castles, museums and posting signs designed to thwart looting. They also tracked artworks stolen by the Nazis and secreted away to Germany. The book features two back-and forth story lines, one about the art and culture and another about the preservation people. I had to continually flip back to the pictur...more

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Jun 02, 2011 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars

For the type of book this is, I would rate it a 5 star, but gave it 4 because it was not what I consider extremely enjoyable (with that I would've given it a 3, but it was too well written so I went in the middle). It was very well written, and much more entertaining to read than a textbook, for sure. This book opened my eyes to many things such as how horrible war truly can be (without any graphic descriptions of any kind) and some things that went on during WWII I had no clue about! Why don't...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Shaun Wright rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: art

Most people are well aware of the many and varied types of struggles against Hitler and Nazi Germany during World War II. However, not many people that I speak with are aware of how disruptive and nearly destructive the war was to the artistic heritage of all of Europe. As part of Hitler’s overall campaign, he would strip entire museums (to include the Louvre) and galleries in occupied cities with the intent on purging all of the degenerate works, hoarding the remainder for the Germany. The vast...more Most people are well aware of the many and varied types of struggles against Hitler and Nazi Germany during World War II. However, not many people that I speak with are aware of how disruptive and nearly destructive the war was to the artistic heritage of all of Europe. As part of Hitler’s overall campaign, he would strip entire museums (to include the Louvre) and galleries in occupied cities with the intent on purging all of the degenerate works, hoarding the remainder for the Germany. The vast majority of this art was stored in train cars, buildings, caves, and even old mines until the Nazis could catalogue it all. However, when the Allies began to push the Nazis back, each cache of art was rigged to explode, with orders to not let in fall into the hands of the Allies. Monuments Men is the story of a small group of soldiers who formed a special unit with the intent of quite literally saving the artistic heritage of the Western World.

The soldiers in this unit ranged from Second Lieutenant James J Rorimer, the Curator of the Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, to Private First Class Lincoln Kirstein, Founder of the New York City Ballet. The tale follows the men, from their training in England to a salt mine in Altuasse, Austria, that contained the largest cache of art and was rigged with bombs in crates marked as marble sculpture. Over the course of this journey, the Monuments Men would follow and occasionally race ahead of US Army units actively engaged in combat. This includes one Monuments Man that had to keep up with Gen. Patton! Fans of art history and Word War II alike, will find this to be a fascinating story who took it upon themselves to rescue something easily overlooked in the middle of the war, works of art.

As a side note, there is plans to make the book, or at least portions of it into a movie. To keep tabs on this project or learn more information regarding the Monuments Men and their work visit http://www.monumentsmenfoundation.org/ (less)

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Mar 19, 2012 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a frustrating book to read. The historical content was fascinating - art treasures taken by Nazis from churches and museums in occupied territory for "protection" or, worse, such treasures "acquired" from Jews who were arrested or forced to flee from the front lines of the holocaust. The subject of the book was the hunt for those treasures and their safe return to their rightful owners, if possible, or at least their country of origin. With that story to tell, The Monuments Men should h ...more

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May 05, 2013 tea_for_two rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, history, nonfiction

I knew the Nazis looted artwork - everyone knows the Nazis looted artwork - but I had no idea the extent of the looting and I had never heard of the Allied efforts to recover, preserve and repatriate that artwork. The Monuments Men were artists, architects, conservators and museum professionals who enlisted, not as soldiers, but to try and preserve Europe’s cultural patrimony from the ravages of WWII and, as the Allied war machine rolled into Germany, to find and save Europe’s great artistic tre...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Lynne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-2012, non-fiction

A fascinating story of how a group of men and one amazing French woman worked under the horrific conditions of WWII in Europe to save cultural art art treasures from Nazi looting and destruction. I wish this history had been better known before we went into Iraq. Failure to anticipate and prevent full scale looting of cultural treasures from the National Museum in Baghdad did incredible damage to our image. Eisenhower and the men of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section of the US Army,u...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Joanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

So many things from history I do not know! The Nazis, under orders from Hitler, systematically robbed conquered European countries of their history of art. Many of the works were listed as "ownerless." Yeah, well, you shippped off the owners to prison camps, extermination, or scared them into fleeing their own countries! A small group of military men from 13 countries (the book concentrates on men from the United States) were tasked locating these objects and returning them to the countries of o...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Drew rated it 4 of 5 stars

A great story, great layout and wonderful writing. This book reveals an area of WWII and world history that almost no one remembers or knew about. There is enough there to keep the focus of those interested in WWII, Art History, Nazi Germany history, or simply those that study human greed.

It is an easy read that flows well and tells the story of not only the subject matter but the men/women that make this story possible. The sub-plots are just as enjoyable as the main thread. The author then wra...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an amazing story about a very small group of soldiers - the Monuments Men - who were responsible for preserving Europe's greatest cultural treasures (e.g., museums and cathedrals), and recovering vast amounts of art looted by the Nazis. Although they had backgrounds in museum work, architecture, conservation and preservation, etc., these guys had to go through basic training just like everyone else and were assigned to various military units. With few resources or authority, they carried...more

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Mar 12, 2011 Suzanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, non-fiction, world-war-ii

"But what if I told you there was a major story about World War II that hasn't been told, a significant story at the heart of the entire war effort, involving the most unlikely group of heroes you've never heard of? What if I told you there was a group of men on the front lines who quite literally saved the world as we know it; a group that didn't carry machine guns or drive tanks, who weren't official statesmen; men who not only had the vision to understand the grave threat to the greatest cul...more

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Jan 27, 2010 Hotavio rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-on-art, books-on-france, wwii

The Monuments Men were a small band of soldiers whose job was to assess damages to cathedrals, statues, and other relics during WWII and to advise on and/or exact the appropriate measures to restore or protect such treasures. As the Monuments Men advanced with the front in Europe, their job focused on reclaiming the works illicitly confiscated by the Nazis.

The Monuments Men follows about 8 of these soldiers very closely and also includes some of their correspondence in a revealing look on a li...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was one of the best historical novels I've ever read. My father recommended it to me, but I was hesitant at first. Then, over the course of 3 plane rides (2 hours each, to and from Philadelphia), I started and finished the book. Once you get started it's hard to stop. The race to save civilization (even German civilization) and the hunt for the Nazi storehouses of art pulls you along with it. I was alternately amazed, horrified, and moved while reading this book. It certainly gave me a grea...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Yoake rated it 4 of 5 stars

Todo empezó después del bombardeo a Pearl Harbor. Los estadounidenses, temiendo que las bombas llegaran a su continente, incluyeron en sus planes de defensa la protección de monumentos artísticos. Al final no fue necesaria ninguna medida pero, con vistas a las operaciones en Europa, el ejército estadounidense, bajo la orden del comandante supremo Eisenhower, creó la sección denominada MFAA (Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives), encargada de proteger, conservar y recuperar obras de arte a punto de...more Todo empezó después del bombardeo a Pearl Harbor. Los estadounidenses, temiendo que las bombas llegaran a su continente, incluyeron en sus planes de defensa la protección de monumentos artísticos. Al final no fue necesaria ninguna medida pero, con vistas a las operaciones en Europa, el ejército estadounidense, bajo la orden del comandante supremo Eisenhower, creó la sección denominada MFAA (Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives), encargada de proteger, conservar y recuperar obras de arte a punto de ser dañadas, escondidas o robadas. Después de lo ocurrido en 1944, en la batalla de Montecassino, cuando el ejército estadounidense destruyó la abadía de San Benito de Nursia para conseguir una victoria pírrica, la función de la MFAA empezó a cobrar mayor importancia. Los aliados no estaban dispuestos a consentir que la destrucción de obras de arte se convirtiera en objeto de propaganda del gobierno alemán.

The Monuments Men, así se conocía a los miembros de la MFAA, eran en su mayoría soldados con sólida formación en arte: conservadores, arquitectos, mecenas, escultores e intelectuales. Su campo de acción fue el continente europeo, principalmente Italia, Francia, los Países Bajos y Alemania, aunque este relato excluye a Italia por el momento. Dos de sus miembros murieron en acto de servicio. A menudo les ignoraban: no recibían órdenes claras, no tenían medio de transporte, ni hombres, ni materiales ni apoyo. Su misión no solo consistía en evitar la destrucción y el saqueo, sino también dar clases de arte e historia a los soldados para que, en caso de tentación, optaran por la conservación en vez de por la destrucción. Edsel recuerda lo que dijo el general Patton cuando vio las ruinas romanas de Agrigento en Sicilia:

-Eso no lo ha hecho el Séptimo Ejército, ¿verdad, señor?
-No, señor, eso lo hicieron durante la última guerra -contestó el hombre.
-¿Qué guerra es ésa?
-La segunda guerra púnica.

Sin embargo, quizá la parte más importante de su misión fuera la de recuperar la mayor cantidad posible de obras de arte que los nazis robaron, usurparon y expoliaron. Para no estropear toda la historia, solo mencionaré a sus autores: Miguel Ángel, Leonardo da Vinci, Vermeer, Van Eyck y Rembrandt, entre otros. También mencionaré algunos lugares: minas de sal y un castillo de cuento. Y a una mujer: Rose Valland, conservadora del museo adjunto al Louvre, el Jeu de Paume.

Algún crítico podría argumentar que la narración que Edsel hace de las labores de los hombres de los monumentos es un poco sesgada. Ya no por ellos, sino por el resto del ejército aliado, al que no podían controlar y al que los rumores acusan también de expolio. Lo único que yo sé es que el libro ha supuesto un trabajo de nueve años en el que hasta las comas están documentadas y que nada de lo que cuenta me hace sospechar que no ocurriera realmente así.

La MFAA fue algo excepcional que no ha vuelto a repetirse (lo que ocurrió en Irak es un claro ejemplo), por eso el relato de Edsel, que a mí me ha convencido, y el trabajo de aquellos hombres tienen tanto valor. Por último, a modo de homenaje me gustaría escribir aquí sus nombres:

Mayor Ronald Edmund Balfour, 1º Ejército canadiense.
Soldado Harry Etlinger, 7º Ejército estadounidense.
Capitán Walker Hancock, 1º Ejército estadounidense.
Capitán Walter Huchtausen, Hutch, 9º Ejército estadounidense.
Jacques Jaujard, director de los museos nacionales de Francia.
Soldado de primera clase Lincoln Kirstein, 3º Ejército estadounidense.
Capitán Robert Posey, 3º Ejército estadounidense.
Subteniente James J. Rorimer, zona de comunicaciones y 7º Ejército estadounidense.
Teniente George Stout, 1º y 12º Ejércitos estadounidenses.
Rose Valland, conservadora temporal del Jeu de Paume.(less)

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About Robert M. Edsel

Robert M. Edsel is the best-selling author of The Monuments Men and Rescuing da Vinci and co-producer of the award-winning documentary film The Rape of Europa. Edsel is also the founder and president of the Monuments Men Foundation, a recipient of the National Humanities Medal, and a trustee at the National WWII Museum. After living in Florence for five years, he now resides in Dallas, Texas.

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Books by Robert M. Edsel

Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazies Stole Europe's Great Art America and Her Allies Recovered It

Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis

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