The Monuments Men, Robert Edsel
The Monuments Men, Robert Edsel
12 Rating(s)
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The Monuments Men
Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History

Author: Robert Edsel

Narrator: Jeremy Davidson

Abridged: 7 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/01/2009


Synopsis

Now a major motion film!

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 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 eleven-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account from Robert Edsel and Bret Witter follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world's great art from the Nazis.

About Robert Edsel

Robert Edsel began his career in the oil and gas exploration business. In 1996 he moved to Europe to pursue his interests in the arts. Settling in Florence seeing some of the great works, he wondered how all of the monuments and art treasures survived the devastation of World War II. During the ensuing years, he devoted himself to finding the answer. In the process, he commissioned major research that has resulted in The Monuments Men. Robert also coproduced the related documentary film, The Rape of Europa, and cowrote Rescuing Da Vinci, a photographic history of an art heist of epic proportions and the Allied rescue effort. The author lives in Dallas.

About Jeremy Davidson

Jeremy Davidson won an AudioFile Earphones Award for Allan Folsom's The Machiavelli Covenant. He has also narrated books including Elise Broach's critically-acclaimed children's book Masterpiece, as well as titles by Robert Edsel, Eric Van Lustbader, and Ray Lemoine.  Davidson has appeared extensively on stage, appearing on Broadway in Epic Proportions, Kennedy Center’s production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof On Broadway, and Off-Broadway in Manhattan Theater Club’s La Terasse. On screen, Davidson has appeared in films including Salt, Little Chenier, Deprivation, and Skeletons in the Closet, and he wrote and directed the film Tickling Leo. He has appeared on numerous television shows, including Army Wives, Law & Order, Brothers & Sisters, The Kill Point, Cold Case, Without a Trace, Boston Legal, and Ally McBeal.

About Bret Witter

Bret Witter has collaborated on many acclaimed books, including the New York Times bestseller Dewey, Tuesday Tucks Me In, and The Monuments Men. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kemper

It’s odd how you think your opinion of a bunch of murderous assholes couldn’t sink any lower, and then you read something like this that makes you realize that they were even worse than you thought. Nazis weren’t just xenophobic bullies who institutionalized mass murder, they were also thieves. They......more

Goodreads review by Brady

Though it's a fascinating bit of history, largely overlooked, this book felt like a chore to get through. There's a plodding to the writing, and a lot of repetitiveness. Repetitiveness throughout. Repeating himself in different ways, as though to pad out the book. Repeat. Also, it feels like there a......more

Goodreads review by David

A handful of art warriors take on the Third Reich in this story chock-full of both intrigue and culture. Read it before the movie (starring George Clooney) comes out.......more

3 stars: 2 stars for the writing, which is tedious, and 4+ for the fascinating WWII history this book relates. The story of the Nazis' wholesale looting of the private and public art treasures of Europe during WWII and the efforts of the Monuments Men, with the aid of some others, to track down and......more