The Monuments Men

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

By: Robert M. Edsel, Bret Witter

Narrated by: Jeremy Davidson

Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

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 cataloging 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 11-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world's great art from the Nazis.

©2009 Robert M. Edsel (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"The story is both engaging and inspiring. In the midst of a total war, armies systematically sought to mitigate cultural loss." ( Publishers Weekly)

"[Narrator Jeremy Davidson] varies the pacing effectively, based on the nature of the text. He speeds up slightly during exciting action-filled sequences. He reads letters and documents with a flatter tone, making it easy for listeners to discern when the document stops and the author's words resume. He also gives a slight but not intrusive or cartoonish British accent to quotations by Britishers." ( AudioFile)

What a history lesson this book is.

A lot of true factual history in this book, from a very sad time in our history or the modern world. These men worked so hard and endangered themselves to save some of the most percious works of arts of all kinds.
The movie was good; the book goes into so much more detail.

Wonderful information but slow moving.

What made the experience of listening to The Monuments Men the most enjoyable?

The historical information, locations and pieces of art mentioned.

What did you like best about this story?

The historical information, locations and pieces of art mentioned.

What does Jeremy Davidson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Yes. Loved his ability to entertain with multiple accents and a clear and easy to listen to voice.

Any additional comments?

This book is wonderful in that it relates history I knew little or nothing about. The content is interesting and delivered well. I would hardly qualify this book as a thriller or difficult to put down although it was written and delivered well. Interesting, definitely worth the "read" but rather slow moving.

Eye opening journey into WW 11!

Overall a fantastic education! It was all new to me concerning what an incredible group of young men did for other countries bravely finding ànd saving their priceless art treasures for future generations.

Better Read than Heard

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes, the story is amazing, just hard to listen to. I have found certain books do well in audio format and not others. It's just how the story is written, and this story is told in such a way (with lots of WWII facts/dates/officer names) that it's not like listening to a novel.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Monuments Men?

The story of Rose, her spying on the Nazis in her museum

What about Jeremy Davidson’s performance did you like?

He was good at using his voice for different characters.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, I did, then listened to the book.

Wonderful history-Thank you for sharing

It is an amazing story of the preservation of these art priceless treasures and the courageous people who made it happen. We owe them a debt of gratitude. My appreciation is greater today because I have seen a few of these pieces myself and now I know how they were saved. I share my admiration for them.

Interesting listen

I met Bret Witter at a book convention, and after speaking with him decided to listen to this book. While parts of the book are very interesting, overall it is somewhat disjointed. It is more like a string of stories and adventures, rather than a novel. If you have an interest in WWII, as I do, then you would probably enjoy this, but it may be one of those books that is better to read than to listen to. I did find the book at Borders, and was able to see the art objects that the author describes as well as trace the paths of the Monuments Men. (One more reason to read, rather than listen to this one.)

American Exceptionalism at its finest….

This book is another excellent reminder of the many sacrifices that this nation has made without asking for a single thing in return. In the history of the world this kind of effort to willingly sacrifice life and limb to protect and locate the cultural treasures (of our friends and enemies alike) is unprecedented. The book was very interesting, though like some of the other reviewers; I thought it started out a tad slow. Since you don’t have the physical book (which shows pictures of many of the works of art referenced), I would suggest writing down the names of the ones that interest you and then googling the images when near a computer. The pieces referenced are a “who’s who” in terms of the European masters—truly amazing.

Interesting, but a bit full of itself

A tremendously interesting story about how museum curators went on the front lines to save, salvage and rescue much of Europe's cultural heritage as the Allied war machine marched towards Berlin. Some wonderful characters, working secretly to document what the Nazis had taken, from whom, and to where.

I'm glad the Army spent time and effort preserving these treasures. I've seen many of the rescued works in churches and museums across Europe. But this story is a footnote to WW2; the author seems like he's trying to make heroes out of his main characters. Undoubtedly some of them were brave and physically courageous. But heroes?

Meh.

Fantastic!!

A great story, you feel transported to the war and all that entails. Loved it! A great piece of history for anyone who loves art.

Only okay...

The first half is really slow but once the Allies enter Germany, second half of the book, it gets much better.