The monuments men: Allied heros, Nazi thieves, and the greatest treasure hunt in history
(Adult Book)

"Autographed copy"

Includes bibliographical references (p. [447]-454) and index.

This book tells the previously untold story of a little-known WWII Allied division whose mission was to track down European art and treasures that had been looted by the Nazis at Hitler's command. These men had a mandate from President Roosevelt and the support of General Eisenhower, but were not provided with vehicles gasoline, typewriters, or authority. Each man gathered scraps and hints to construct his own treasure map using records recovered from bombed cathedrals and museums, the notes and journals of Rose Valland, a French museum employee who secretly tracked Nazi plunder through the railyards of Paris, and even a tip from a dentist during a root canal. These unlikely heroes, mostly middle-aged family men, walked away from successful careers into the epicenter of the war risking and some losing their lives. They included: Ronald Edmund Balfour, Henry Ettlinger, Walker Hancock, Walter Huchthausen, Jacques Jaujard, Lincoln Kirstein, Robert Posey, James J. Rorimer, George Stout, and Rose Valland. -- Provided by the publisher.