Some people did, remarkable people, courageous scholars and art lovers, the famous "Monuments Men" that George Clooney is celebrating in a film coming out this month. Here's the official movie trailer:
Great cast, that's one movie I don't want to miss!
Did you notice Cate Blantchett in there? She's Rose Valland in the movie, an amazing French woman, a French art historian and member of the French Resistance, who worked as an assistant in the Louvre's Jeu de Paume where Goring had based himself and his team to systematically steal all the art in there. She pretended she didn't speak German and listened to everything they said, carefully writing down the list with full descriptions of every piece of art they stole, week after week, and passing it on to the Resistence. That takes amazing courage! She died in 1980, aged 81.
And some of the Monuments Men died, two of them, paying with their lives in trying to save what is most important in any civilization: its culture. But they did manage to save huge numbers of masterpieces, they prevented the useless bombing of historic monasteries in Italy (and eleswhere) - they had become sharply aware of how important this was after the tragic and totally uless devastation wrought by the battle of Monte Cassino, that tragically stood in the way of the Allies's march on Rome. It had left the incomparable thousand years old Abbey in ruins:
Yes, because all of this is true. And fully documented. And beautifully chronicled in Robert M. Edsel's book, The Monuments Men (I'm currently reading it, fascinating, I highly recommend it):
Curious about Rose Valland? Edsel just wrote a foreword to Corinne Bouchoux's new book about her that just came out last October:
Another must-read on the topic is Lynn Nicholas' scholarly work, the "Rape of Europa", first published a few years ago and now available as an ebook (click here):
With the movie coming out this week-end, there are many interesting related articles:
Latest News about my publications:
Crimson Clouds, (new edition) romance the second-time-around (on Amazon, click here for ebook and here for printed version)
Luna Rising, the full saga (new edition, 3 volumes) one young man's battle to rebuild the family name (on Amazon, click here for ebook, and here for printed version)
Note: ebook is 40% off compared to buying each e-volume of the saga separately:
Great cast, that's one movie I don't want to miss!
Did you notice Cate Blantchett in there? She's Rose Valland in the movie, an amazing French woman, a French art historian and member of the French Resistance, who worked as an assistant in the Louvre's Jeu de Paume where Goring had based himself and his team to systematically steal all the art in there. She pretended she didn't speak German and listened to everything they said, carefully writing down the list with full descriptions of every piece of art they stole, week after week, and passing it on to the Resistence. That takes amazing courage! She died in 1980, aged 81.
And some of the Monuments Men died, two of them, paying with their lives in trying to save what is most important in any civilization: its culture. But they did manage to save huge numbers of masterpieces, they prevented the useless bombing of historic monasteries in Italy (and eleswhere) - they had become sharply aware of how important this was after the tragic and totally uless devastation wrought by the battle of Monte Cassino, that tragically stood in the way of the Allies's march on Rome. It had left the incomparable thousand years old Abbey in ruins:
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| From WorldWarPhotoFind blog, for more amazing photos visit here |
Yes, because all of this is true. And fully documented. And beautifully chronicled in Robert M. Edsel's book, The Monuments Men (I'm currently reading it, fascinating, I highly recommend it):
 |
| Available on Amazon: ebook here printed version here |
Curious about Rose Valland? Edsel just wrote a foreword to Corinne Bouchoux's new book about her that just came out last October:
 |
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| Printed version here (same price as ebook) |
Not All Monuments Men Were Men(nytimes.com)
The Background on 'Monuments Men' Opening In Theatres This Weekend:(k1047.cbslocal.com)
Film Review: 'The Monuments Men'(variety.com)
History, Yes, but Movie History(nytimes.com)
Crimson Clouds, (new edition) romance the second-time-around (on Amazon, click here for ebook and here for printed version)
 | ||||
| Just garnered new three 5 star reviews! |
Luna Rising, the full saga (new edition, 3 volumes) one young man's battle to rebuild the family name (on Amazon, click here for ebook, and here for printed version)
Note: ebook is 40% off compared to buying each e-volume of the saga separately:
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