false 227540 0679756868 9780679756866 150 49 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172877747m/227540.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/227540.The_Rape_of_Europa_The_Fate_of_Europe_s_Treasures_in_the_Third_Reich_and_the_Second_World_War 133174 Lynn H. Nicholas 162 51 4 1 false Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 16:33:26 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 20:34:41 -0800 2009
I’m not an art devotee, but many episodes in this book were absolutely maddening. Here’s the pattern in country after country: Germany invades, the Nazis pick over every public and private art collection they can find, packing off the best to the Reich (first choice goes to Hitler for his Linz museum, second choice to Goering, and so on). And then the remaining “degenerate” artwork is used for barter or burned. Nearly as frustrating: priceless artwork used as tabletops, left to disintegrate in wet caverns, hacked apart by infantrymen bent on revenge.

The recovery effort was considerably more intricate than the thefts, and all of this is covered in rich detail by Nicholas. At points, not being familiar with many of the works discussed, I longed for a visual reference. I haven’t seen the PBS documentary based on The Rape of Europa, but for visuals, it might be a good complement to the book. Even without the tour guide, though, it was a very enjoyable read.]]>