The monuments men book is a story by Robert Edsel about a group determined to rescue as much fine art as possible from capture or destruction during the way with Hitler. The group also includes women and the aim was to save cultural treasures that were about to be destroyed by Nazi fanatics. They had to work fast because there were racing against time.

The treasure rescuers did not have information or a map that indicated where the artwork was hidden. They had to work through destroyed cathedrals and museums, journals and secret notes. One lady who proved very resourceful was Valland Rosa who was employed at the French museum. She was very instrumental in finding hints in rail yards and following the leads provided by her sources. One such source was a dentist who was performing a root canal procedure.

It is a story of sacrifice where family men in their middle age desert successful careers to secure cultural treasures. The treasures were by famous artists like Vermeers, Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Van Eycks among others. These artists produced the best paintings in Europe and the world at the time.

The mission to rescue the art involved a lot of risk including exposing their lives to danger. Everything was at stake as long as they could save artifacts from pillage or destruction during war. Such loss would have been detrimental for the culture and art of that generation. Understanding such a delicate matter and choosing to do something about it was phenomenal. The team was made up of educators, curators, art scholars, archivists, architects and museum directors.

The mission had the support of President Roosevelt and General Eisenhower. The support was not substantial considering that it did not include the vehicles needed, authority during war, typewriters and gasoline for the mission. Despite such difficulty, the determination and understanding of the gravity of the matter kept the group going. They aimed at protecting the structures that housed the art from bombing but adopted a different approach when it became impossible. They turned to rescuing the artifacts.

The author offers a lay mans creation of the characters of these individuals. This is necessary considering the difficulty they are facing. It is a journey into their young lives, their passions and goals and how each finds himself in the mission. The extent of sacrifice is huge since some of them give-up their lives for the course.

Hitler aimed at creating a huge museum in his home town and thus wanted to plunder what the world offered. His target when he invaded Poland included private art collections, museums and churches. These were the areas where he would get the best art that the world had to offer. He used secret mines and remote castles to keep away the loot as he waited for the war to come to an end. He wished to show Jewish artists that they were not superior to Aryans.

The perspective of World War II presented by The Monuments Men Book is unique from the plain historic narration. Beside the destruction and death that happened, there were personal sacrifices that went beyond conquest. This is a story that tells of determination and sacrifice for nationhood. A movie developed out of the book was released in 2013, December.