DP9

So interesting. A bit slow to begin with as the background leading up to the need for the protection of Western Europe's cultural heritage during WWII. The bulk of this book follows the monuments men following the Normandy landing as the Allies swept across the western countries of Europe and into Germany. The narration is chronological, so we have frequent jumps between location and people, so the list of the main players at the front of the book was invaluable for helping get the different people straight in my head. The inclusion of letters home helped greatly in understanding the character of the monuments men, and the conditions they were working in. There are many surprises, and indeed some shocks as we travel Eastward. I'd never really paid much attention to the detail of what happened in the fighting part of WWII, so this book gave me a much improved understanding of this also. Utterly shocked by the idea of the Nero Decree, and what Hitler was prepared to do to Germany when he realised he couldn't win.