The Monuments Men

Read this a few years ago. I don't remember much about it, but I think I enjoyed it.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just felt like I was trudging through mud to get through it. It got to the point that I was just continuing so I could be done with it. I really think what these men did was amazing and wonderful, but I got lost in the names of paintings and historical sites. I think if you were really into art and knew the history and importance of these works it would be a lot more interesting.

I will open with the disclaimer that I audiobooked this and it might be easier to follow if you have pages to flip back and forth to. Interesting story, including many great short-stories-within-a-story - the type you find yourself retelling to others, even. My problem is that it follows like 4 or 5 different people, whose paths don't really cross, while also attempting to build up to a climax along only one of the storylines? I thought it was just all anecdotes until I was more than halfway through and I realized that the story was actually supposed to be moving in a direction. I was disappointed, ultimately.

This is an great story about an amazing group of men and women who fought to save the cultural history of Europe in the final months of World War II. I'm glad that this book and the new movie are bringing attention to this forgotten part of Allied history. These men and women are examples of why our grandparents have earned the right to call themselves The Greatest Generation.

Edsel tells the story well, weaving in the paths that each of the Monuments Men took through Western Europe into one narrative. This is a history book that is written to be accessible to the non-history types who just want to read a good, fast paced, almost too crazy to be true story. It's really a treasure hunt and the twists keep story moving and the pages turning!

Really, really interesting. Makes you wonder what other art and treasures are still out there, yet to be recovered.