Similar to both Fault in Our Stars and World War Z, I found the novel Monuments Men on sale at Target and honestly thought: “Why not?” I will be very honest with you in that I am ignorant to WW II history. I don’t remember much from my high school days (probably because those days have been blocked for my own well-being), and that I never had to take a European History class in college (too busy taking calc-based physics and P-chem). Regardless of my lack of knowledge, I thought that perhaps I could really learn something from delving into material that was non-fiction about a time and era I knew nothing about.

I will preface this discussion with a brief synopsis of my non-fiction reading history. There are only 3 topics that I have found fervently enjoyable in the non-fiction category: The Tudors (Henry VIII and Elizabeth I), the fall of the Romanov Dynasty, and biographies and leading females in history. My interest in each individual topic is not because of hereditary lineage or anything, just interesting events in history of the people who lived in different eras. Clearly, there is nothing WW II related on the above list, so this novel was definitely going out of my comfort zone.

As all reviews I will be blunt with what I liked and what I didn’t like. So to start off on a positive note (because even I knew WW II was NOT positive with any respect). I thought Edsel did a fantastic job in delving into the story as a whole. It’s a very complex story of all of these different men, with varying backgrounds in art coming together for the greater good of protecting priceless pieces of human history. I really enjoyed how Edsel chronologically depicted the travel of the men from their initial travel through Europe to their final destinations. I will have to say that the novel was ultra detailed, yet my favorite part was the last chapter. Where did all of these trully unsung heroes go? Many of them went on to very prestigious positions in museums and galleries; some went into art conservation. Alternatively, I found it riveting to find out how the “villains” ended up. Hitler obviously committed suicide, but all of the other characters who used Hitler to steal pieces of art for their own benefit. In summation, the positives had to be the level of detail Edsel used in describing the plot and if you can get through all of the details the last and final chapter is AMAZING! Lastly, one aspect that I have never crossed over in all of my non-fiction reading was the way that Edsel ended many chapters with a letter, many of which the Monuments Men to their wives. I really noticed the love for their spouses as well as their passion for their job and duty. It was a great idea for Edsel to do this and I thought it added a lot of personal touches to each of the characters and what was happening during the battle.

Now, onto the negatives of the novel. There weren’t many aspects of the plot I didn’t like; let’s be honest, what happened, happened so there’s no point in fussing over plot twists and turns. But, when I talk about the novel being detailed, it’s REALLY detailed. And what’s funny is that the artwork is not detailed, but the plot, characters, and settings are almost overly detailed. At times it was like reading a textbook, one in which there were few and all black and white photos of the characters and artwork. This made it really challenging to “get into” as a novel. Also, even though Edsel had two character lists, kept repeating himself as to which characters were which and who had what traits, there were so many characters (let alone many had really European names which made it hard for me to even pronounce in my mind) that it made the novel even more challenging. Now, again, I am not blind to the fact that history is history and these people played a role in what occurred where positive or negative. However, it was difficult to keep track!

I think many Americans would like this novel and enjoy it, but be prepared for the challenge! It’s a bit of a doozy at times, I would suggest to have a map with you at all times, and perhaps even you phone so that you can google the artwork that Edsel is referencing. These are all things I wish I had done, so take heed!