A Brief Look At The Plot Of The Monuments Men Book

By Marissa Velazquez


The Monuments Men Book is one great read that every art lover has to read at some point. This novel is set against the background of World War II during the period where the Nazis under Adolf Hitler, were planning to rob Europe of its art and in the process its entire culture. The plot is quite thrilling although one may feel like it gets off on a slow start. This should however not cause a book-lover from pursuing the story to its completion.

The plot outlines in detail the plan by Adolf Hitler to take over the western world with the help of his armies. The soldiers were under strict orders to comb through museums all over Europe in a bid to collect all forms of art that did not sit well with Hitler. In his view, some of these art objects were degenerate and thus needed to be destroyed.

Hitler had created a catalogue containing a god number of art pieces that he thought were offensive enough to be destroyed. He also set a time limit within which this goal was to be achieved and sent his armies to do the actual deed. Meanwhile, he was pursuing his campaign of conquering the western world.

The plot of the novel thickens when a Special Forces unit that constituted certain American and British curators, art historians and museum directors is formed. These people came together with the goal of rescuing the art objects earmarked for destruction from the Nazis. This group went by the same name that forms the title of the novel.

The goal of this unit was to get to different art collections before the Nazis got hold of them. This mission may seem clear cut but in reality; it was quite a challenge. Going behind enemy lines and risking lives for the sake of culture is not what can be termed as easy. The whole campaign took lots of courage and bravery from the Special Forces.

A movie, going by the same title as the book yet to be released in February 2014, has been produced based on this novel. The cast of this production includes big names such as George Clooney, Matt Damon and even Cate Blanchet. With such names on the list, the film is almost guaranteed of becoming a big box office hit.

Book-lovers would tell you that there is no greater satisfaction than that which comes from reading a captivating bestseller and having to experience every detail come to life through your eyes. Movies may be captivating but they usually lack details that form the core of the story. Thus if one would like to experience the raw angle of any story, then the original novel should take precedence.

The above is a brief review of what The Monuments Men Book is all about. Having this in mind would give one an idea of what to expect from the movie of the novel itself. In order to get the feel and nature of events first hand however, it would be a must to read the novel itself.




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