Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis Stole Europe's Great Art - America and Her Allies Recovered It - Hardcover

Robert M. Edsel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0977434907 ISBN 13: 9780977434909

Publisher: Laurel Publishing, LLC, 2006

Synopsis

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Monuments Men, which is now a major motion picture directed by and starring George Clooney, Rescuing Da Vinci uses 460 photographs to tell the story of the Monuments Men.   

The Monuments Men were a group of 345 or so men and women from thirteen nations who comprised the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section during World War II. Many were museum directors, curators, art historians and educators. Together they worked to protect monuments and other cultural treasures from the destruction of World War II. In the last year of the war, they tracked, located, and ultimately returned more than 5 million artistic and cultural items stolen by Hitler and the Nazis. Their role in preserving cultural treasures was without precedent.

About this title

From the Publisher:

From The Wall Street Journal, Dec 15, 2006:

"Mr. Edsel has collected hundreds of photographs documenting the extent of the Nazis' looting and the Allies' efforts to protect or rescue art treasures. We see Goering's private museum of stolen masterpieces, American soldiers recovering Leonardo's "Lady With an Ermine" and Rembrandt's rolled-up "Night Watch" being transported across Holland to safety. Particularly memorable is a photograph of the massive "Winged Victory" sculpture in the Louvre being lowered down the museum steps with ropes and pulleys before to its evacuation in advance of the Nazi invasion. One shudders with gratitude -- for the fact that the piece survived the war and for a book that reminds us of what is at stake when the enemies of civilization seize power."

From The Chicago Tribune, Dec 3, 2006:

"Rescuing Da Vinci by Robert M. Edsel...is a crime story, writ so large it covers a continent. It gathers together, for the first time, nearly 500 photos documenting the Nazi theft of tens of thousands of artworks from European museums and private collections. And it details the immense, painstaking, though little-recognized, efforts of Allied armies to recover and return these precious items."

About the Author:

Robert M. Edsel is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the non-fiction books, Rescuing Da Vinci, The Monuments Men and Saving Italy. Mr. Edsel is also the co-producer of the award-winning documentary film, The Rape of Europa. Mr. Edsel published Beyond the Dreams of Avarice: The Hermann Goering Collection by Nancy Yeide, the first study devoted to Goering's entire paintings collection. In addition, he is the Founder and President of the nonprofit, Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, which received the National Humanities Medal. Mr. Edsel has been awarded the "Texas Medal of Arts" Award; the "President's Call to Service" Award; and the "Hope for Humanity" Award, presented by the Dallas Holocaust Museum. He also serves as a Trustee at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.  A film based on Mr. Edsel's book, The Monuments Men, directed by and starring Academy Award winner George Clooney, was released in February 2014. The film also stars Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville, Jean Dujardin and Bob Balaban, is set for theatrical release on December 18, 2013.

About this edition

• Publisher: Laurel Publishing, LLC
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0977434907
• ISBN 13: 9780977434909
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 302