After seeing the movie "The Monuments Men" which is a fictionalized version of the true story, I was interested in learning more. This book focuses on several of the people who were instrumental in creating the little known Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of Military Civil Affairs. The book focuses on a few of those who were instrumental in recovering thousands of works of art from the mines, warehouses, and castles where the Nazis had hidden them. Much primary source material is included. The fact that a small group accomplished so much in this tremendous operation in such a short time under horrible conditions is amazing. There was also a local connection in St. Louis born Walker Hancock. Hancock was the sculptor who created the four large statues flanking the stairs of Soldiers' Memorial among other famous works. Many of the monument men rose to prominence after the war by becoming museum curators and leaders in the arts. I listened to the audiobook version which means I missed out on the photographs in the book. There were also a few mispronunciations by the reader that were a bit jarring. In spite of that I found it a very interesting story.
No comments:
Post a Comment