Salt Mines and Castles; the Discovery and Restitution of Looted European Art

by Thomas C. Howe Jr.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Art, World War II, Nonfiction

370 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

Reviews

[Emilymcmc]

If you're a fan of logistics, this is a solid read; it's a bit less interesting for a fan of art. The author takes for granted that you already understand the importance of the art recovery he's doing, and instead focuses on the minutia of how it is carried out -- how many trucks, what route is taken to each monastery and castle, where each member of the party is billeted and fed, how many different offices he visits at each stop. The lack of personal commentary and color starts to get tedious after a while but it's not UN-interesting.

[Ronald M. Gelisse]

Good but could be better!

Enjoyed the book but would of liked more of the background of the collection's that they were stolen from also, more illustrations of the beautiful works of art!!!

[Judy]

The Monuments Men book follows and records the recovery effort of European art looted by the Nazis in WWII. It is an overall account of the recovery group as a whole. Salt Mines & Castles is the memoirs of one Monuments Man and gives a better, closer look at what was involved in actually carrying out this mission.

[Katherine Lavelle]

This book was written the year after WWII ended, and it's really interesting to read a first hand take on the work to save European art. It's a pretty fast read and interesting if you like European art and post-war stories.

[Frances]

a well written, entertaining, first-hand description of the end of ww2

[John]

Lot of personal stories about the discovery, recovery and restitution of works of art at the end of WW2 written by one of the actual Monuments Men. The stories are often similar, it is the artwork that is fascinating. For content I would have given the book four stars but I only gave it three because it was so poorly edited. There are lots of obvious and simple spelling errors which I found frustrating. Plus there were a few unfinished sentences. They would just end mid sentence. So read it for the content and try to be patient with the errors.