[book:Fragile Cargo: The World War II Race to Save the Treasures of China's Forbidden City|61273708] 4 stars

[Joanne]

Fragile Cargo: The World War II Race to Save the Treasures of China's Forbidden City 4 stars

Although WWII is the back drop of this true story, the real story is about China and it's culture and the art that came from it for centuries.

When one thinks of WWII we seem to forget that the war in Asia began before that on the European continent. In the early 1930's Japan decided it wanted China as it own and began a campaign to subjugate and terrorize it's population. As the assault began the curators of the Forbidden Palace, and all it's irreplicable treasure, began to formulate plans to hide their historical paintings, jade and the thousands of other items kept over the centuries.

...in the years to come, the imperial collections of China-these hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable objects-will undergo a series of strange, transformative journeys through time and space. They will travel thousands of miles by steamship and bamboo raft, by train and truck, and the the backs of straining, sweating porters, across mountain ranges, up rolling rivers, through burning cities.

The story cannot be compared to that of The Monument Men in Europe. The large scale collection and the size of China make the European salvage of art look meager. The scholars and dedicated Chinese men (and their families) tell the tale of determination and absolute dedication to saving and keeping safe the inheritance of past dynasties . Theses artifacts travelled across the continent for more than 16 years (encompassing the initial invasion of China, WWII and then the civil war between the Chinese Republic and the Mao's Communism).

A fascinating, engrossing piece of history that will keep you captivated to the very end. As I said, ignore the mention of WWII and you have a story that will entrance even those of you who have "closed the book" on that section of history.