The monuments men

An ambitious project. It becomes clear as the book goes on why the narrative focuses more on certain individuals, but that does make the cast of ‘main characters' line up in the beginning of the book a little confusing. I'll admit to investigating this work based on the notion of art conversation/reclamation history rather than World War 2 history, which means I had less interest in the sections of the book that acted as introductory context for the latest priorities/movements of the Monuments Men than their actual actions taken to discover and return/protect the art. Maintaining sense of tension without allowing the action to drag is difficult with a work of this length, even if it's clear that the muddle of war and the inevitable bureaucracy were just facts of history, not anything the authors ginned up. I appreciate that the authors gave time to consider the German-Jewish-American soldier perspective as well as the contributions of a woman to the French resistance and the recovery of artwork as well as to the art world of France, even though Ettlinger and Valland are not presented as the main characters in the bulk of the work. While the acknowledgement of an eventual force of men and women, especially post-action in the European theatre, in the MFAA, it remains The Monuments ‘Men' throughout. 🤷🏼‍♂️ It matters that the authors took moments to acknowledge when even the Allies were destructive or unwise in their choices and art was lost as a result. I don't know if the fact that the authors are American or that the larger number of the original MFAA group were American explains why the focus seems to be on American MFAA people even if it was a joint British and American operation. One situation related does make it appear that depending on which American army section the Monuments Man was attached to determined where they'd be able to work/help, to the exclusion of any British force which might be nearby. 
The horrors of war are briefly touched on, but not the focus of the story, beyond the lamentation for history, culture, art which was stolen, destroyed, lost. I was glad to read about the nascent field of modern art conservation coming into being in the person of George Stout, the love letters from sculptor Walker Hancock home to his new wife and “great love” Saima. The window into the ambition and frustration of men who were successful in their secular lives coming up against forces so much greater and grinding problems so much slower to solve primarily in the persons of James Rorimer and Lincoln Kirstein was humanizing. I can see why and how you could make this into a film, but I don't think I could watch a dramatization of it having been somewhat acquainted with the real people involved. I'm glad the authors chose to emphasize the importance of this type of work in modern warfare, and mentioned that the recovery of work from the historical time period is still ongoing. It's inspiring to remember people care about saving a little beauty alongside the other priorities amidst the ugliness of conflict. 

⚠️suicide, details for the Holocaust, SA