Monuments Men

Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History

By: Robert M. Edsel

Narrated by: Jeff Harding

As Hitler was attempting to conquer the Western world, his armies were methodically pillaging the finest art in Europe, from Michelangelos to Vermeers, all stolen for the Führer.

The Monuments Men had a mandate from President Roosevelt to find these artworks, but no vehicles, typewriters, or authority. In a race against time to save the world’s greatest cultural treasures from destruction at the hands of Nazi fanatics, each man constructed his own treasure map. They used tips, records recovered from bombed buildings, and the secret journals of Rose Valland, a French museum employee who secretly tracked Nazi plunder in Paris.

These unlikely heroes, mostly middle-aged family men, walked away from successful careers into the epicentre of the war. This is their story.

©2009 Robert M. Edsel (P)2010 Isis Publishing Ltd

Men of hope

If you could sum up Monuments Men in three words, what would they be?

Men of hope

What did you like best about this story?

I always like true stories in which the contrast between good and bad, corruption and honesty, despair and hope is so apparent.

Which scene was your favorite?

The descriptions of how and where the loot was found

Any additional comments?

The personal side of the story in the fashion of letters and notes really allows the audience to feel empathy with the people

Stuff that happen

The book is a little dry. The book is creative historical non fiction being dressed up as a novel without much success. The Narrator Jeff Harding does an adequate job, however he is tied to the writing of Robert M. Edsel who failed to create real drama, plot or character. Based on fact and probably historically correct, it still lacks the charm of the movie and comes down to just a list of facts, dates, times and stuff that happens.