Me to wonder. So i asked friend, whats the answer . I said, you live here, you should know. And evolved this way, having just out of curiosity. I couldnt of course have seen at the beginning, having three books about and it now a feature film. The Monuments Men foundation continuing these men and womens work but its been an incredible privilege for me to represent this remarkable heroes, five only who are still living. An amazing experience. Host why did you move to florence . I sold my business, the Oil Exploration business and had some success doing that, over 15. But i was 39 years old and had an cute understand our quick lip 39 can become 9 and i wanted something more meaningful and didnt have any idea but it was very difficult just carving out space to break free of the gravitational pull of the established life. My son was two years old. Wasnt spending time with him like i wanted to. So just seemed like a great opportunity to take a break, learn about things id always been interested in and never had time to do. Well, here we are. Host what was your first career. You second career was oil. Guest i had a determination be a professional tennis player and played some qualifying tournaments and had some success but i dime the conclusion i couldnt be great and that was important to me, and so i had to let go of it. It was very, very difficult thing to do but helped me in ways couldnt foresee at the time when i was thinking about selling my own glass explore asia business. That was rick, too, letting go on an identity but hide didnt before and survived that. It was a great enthusiasm to take time scough learn about thing its didnt know about. Host where did you grow up. Guest i was born in oak park, illinois, but i spend most of my time in dallas. My parents are from oklahoma and moved to dallas in 1960. I was there educated there, and then went to several different colleges and ultimately built my Business Career out of dallas. Host when did you get interested in art and history. Guest always been interested in history but didnt know much about art. My parents werent racial but able to take us on trips and exposees to museums just as tourists and always interested in seeing these things and didnt understand anything about them other than i thought one was pretty or one wasnt. Spent time walking through churches, but as i started traveling more as an adult and then once i became married i had more interest in these things, not understanding what i was looking at. I wasnt interested in trying to amend it through reading books. I learn best outside of classroom. Very tactile. In florence there are lot of american universities. I hired an american professor to take me around the city one day week and show me these things through her eyes. I want to see what want to learn about these things in a very, very handson way. A great, great experience do under hour sculpture moves, why churches that both teen be the same, one is more important than the other and i europe was where i classroom and florence was my school and was an extraordinary opportunity. Host there is a dollar figure you can put on the art that was stolen by the nazi snooze as high as you want to make it. We get into an exercise of futility trying to put numbers on it. Do we approach a trillion . We might. When the become that paintings today, some paintings selling for 150,000,200,000,000. We have to toe ask what would have this leonard dida vincis paint could go have come on the market and sold. You can get to a billion very quickly with a couple of paint examination start to think in some salt mines these monument officers were find ing 20,000 paintings, 10,000 paintings, hundreds of thousands of ancient Library Books and the number are staggering. Host how much is still missing . Guest here again, this becomes aen exercise in numbers. A lot of people like to, i think, deal with numbers that are just so large. Thick it makes it harder for the public to understand. A number i use is hundreds of thousands of cultural objects, including work of art, but the nazis stole everything that had any value so we are talking about tapestries, paintings, drawings, important books, documents. In poland they have 60,000 specific works of art on their missing database. So when we say a few hundred thousand cultural objects, thats not a random number that is just picked out of the sky. Some people use the millions of numbers. Its hard to tell. Host 202 is the area code. Host were going to begin with call from ernie in howard beach, new york. Youre on with robert ed sell. Caller good morning, mr. Ed sell. I read the rain of europa and they can talk about lincoln going over before the war to buy degenerate art. Im wondering whether or not you can speak to what the circumstances were . I believe it was before the war, before 39, and may have been in germany or in sweden. Can you tell me something about it, what happened . What did he buy . Guest one of the great thing i learned the court of my work is to speak passionately about the things now about and be quick to say i dont know, and in this case i cant help. Host did the nazis take great care or karatless. Guest i them you have a whole range of things. In the earlier days when theyre in control of these there was some degree of care for arts that war taken. Things intend are for collection. When the mass removals of works of art from peoples homes in the east were things homes are destroyed, the cities or razeed. I dont think there was care. In the west as jews apartments are looted en masse, theyre piled up. The paradox of war, these survived because as result of haven been stolen and hidden out of the way of allies bomb examination survived where they might not have otherwise. So a lot of dislocations and paradoxes in the telling of the story. Thats one of them. Host andy, keptington, maryland. Caller so, thank you for all the great work that you have done. My question has to do with the National Gallery of art, and i believe they currently have an exhibit that is timed to coincide with the movie, but for about 15 years or so ive been really troubled with the National Gallery of art because it turns out that back in the 1980s, they put on an exhibition of artworks on loan that included some artworks that had been looted by the nazis, and this was a collection of art, impressionist paintings by the swiss industrialist emile buehler. And when thats came out the National Gallery never addressed it. Never apologized and its just sore of like buried its head in the sand like an ostrich. Now theyre claiming to be so concerned about this issue, but my question to you is, number one, are you familiar with that issue, and number two, do you have any suggestions in terms of pressure that might be applied to have them address this issue. All they have to do is apologize all right, andy wishing got the point. Guest i think that i dont know about the pick the buehler collection, i have a little knowledge about. This is a long time ago now and the issue of providence, which is a fancy way of saying who owned it previously, is something that really has come into the fore now since the late 1990s and i zients see any point in going back to scold the national gary ordinary galleries from 1987. Dont think that would happen today, and i think that we should focus on going forward, trying to solve the problems we can fix and that is what the work of the Monuments Foundation is. Host steven hall, professor tweets in, wonderful presentation. My history students at he can corn states air signed to watch the movie. Guest i think the movie is fantastic in this respect. Its hugely challenging subject, hasnt been tackled on the big screen before which seems incredible to believe. A major story about world war ii have what seen on the big screen. Its a daunting task. Covers a wide geographical scope. A large amount of time. These monument officers were never in one place together so there have to be adjustments to the story but George Clooney has done a good job capture thing overall arching principle offered the movie and people will know this is an american and british operation. There was historic orders issued by general eisenhower that waived the way for this to happen. Millions of cultural objects found, the policy of the western allies to return them. The monuments officers risked their lives or killed in combat. An incredibly noble and upbeat story about world war ii. If they want to know the details and know more about the people, its all that any book. Host or your web site, the Monuments Men guest the Monuments Men foundation. Org has a tremendous amount of information biology fries on each one of the 350 so Monuments Men and women from 13 nations, a lot of photographs we have some that are in rescue, my first book, but also some of the other books, and a lot of information we couldnt include in the various books ive written. Host two events, both at the white house. This past week at the white house for a screening. Guest yeah. We were invited George Clooney and grant hestlov invited and our youngest living monuments officer and we were invited to a private screening at the white house on tuesday. President obama made a point of having time for a visit with us and it was a great opportunity for harry. One of the few people oh have been to the white house twice under two sitting president s women were there in 2007. Host next call for robert edsel from mar that in south carolina. Probably martha barkly. Caller good morning, peter. Host how are you, martha. Caller im fine. Because of cspan i ran out and bought edsells book years ago and you have stolen my thunder, peter. You asked about the priceless, the cost and the value of art. Its definitely priceless just as life is priceless, and the movie, of course, portrayed the two lives lost. I imagine there were more lives lost. Have to check my books. My question to robert edsel, thank you for work since the age of 39. Its marvelous. Have a feeling the movie was like a Fraternity Party atmosphere, even though the locations and artwork was superb. I wanted to know the rest of the story at rouges if you could tell that. Guest the rest of the story what . Caller at nye . About madonna . Host yes. Guest its the only sculpture by michelangelo to leave lit during his lifetime and one of the focused pieces that the nazis stole in september 1944. This is such an illustrated situation because human nature you figure with the allies, a few weeks down the road the nazis turn and run for the hills but some stills that have not been acquired yet and theres a group of nazi that go to the church and wrap up the madonna in a mattress, a burlap mattress that was the same mattress that monuments man george stout found in the salt mine in austria the following year. Taken out and put on a ship, sent round the north sea and taken to the salt mine where its found. One of the key pieces that the british monuments officer was trying to find when he was nil march 1945. One of two monuments officers killed. Host melinda, texas. Youre on with author robert edsell. Caller i cant wait to see your movie but i was going to ask you, i saw a movie years ago with Burt Lancaster called the train, all about them trying to get the stolen art. I wonder if thats the same thing youre talking about. Guest a much staller story. Its a fine, fine film. A based on a great hero she was remarkable woman and have translated a wonderful book written about her that is out there. Just a focus on her story. Ive written a short introduction to it which is available on ebook. Rose is this woman who works in the museum about halfway between the louvre and the la concorde, and works under the eyes of the nazis. They know she is there like a custodian but the is digging through tracks which she terms of the the american monuments officer which is a treasure map to find these things. The story on the train introduces the figure of rose and then becomes a tet atet between the French Resistance and this fictitious german character trying to got the last work of art back to german. The last train goes in a circling around the center of the city but its a fun movie and. Host prior to the german invasion did the europeans try to protect their art. Guest i spend a lot of time talk held in heroic role of the art superintendents but volunteers in all these cities in saving italy the book really begins with one scene we loaned to the film about the near destruction of the last supper by allied bomb examination had it not been for protective measures by local officials on the whatif chance a ball might fall near the dining hal containing this, we wouldnt have in davinci code and would know about the last supper from art history. The bomb falls, the paintings is exposed to the almosts for two years, only saved because there was scaffolding and polls bracing the walls. A nec miraculous near disaster that this masterpiece of western civilization was almost lovers by bombing our or side. Host what about the louvre . What is did it stay intact. Guest the louvre building did but the french artificials the french art officials, know the invasion of poland begins they start evacuation of 4 then thousand works of art from the louvre and other museums in press, taking to french chateaus in the country side. The standard procedure, happened in florence. Removal of works to some 38 tuscan veil las. The great concern was bombing bill the allies destroying the museums or other Cultural Treasures inside the cities. The problem is sting er when the allied bombings begins because in florence the Museum Officials didnt have the vehicles, and couldnt get them from the veil las back into the city and there they are save from the allied bombing but in the middle of the path of ground warfare. Wait perilous situation. Some damaged works of art and ultimately the removal of these by i sr. S forces. Host susan from springfield, missouri. Youre on booktv. Caller thank you for being limit grew up in dallas, although i am in springfield. My question is about christian art. Forgive, i havent had chance read you book. Wonder especially in iraq and places where there might be more religious type artifacts and so forth, if they were destroyed on purpose because of obvious reasons that people dont want the world to know that anything else exists besides what they believe in. I just con at thed if your research has wondered if you ruhr research has turned anything. Guest one thing the Monuments Foundation men is doing is we are trying to raise worldwide visibility and the George Clooney film is so important because no book can accomplish what this film can do. Its going to be opening in some 100 countries around the world. So thats a great chance for people not only to know the story of the Monuments Men and know the heroic role that the United Statesled effort played in saving these things. This isnt a religious art vs. Christian art versus jewish art, islamic art. Its not segregated. The nazis stole anything of value whether it was islamic in nature, collected by sometimes jewish collectors who collected things that were viable be acquired. Monuments officers rescued whatever was stolen. In iraq the great tragedy for our country was in the in the aftermath of looting the National Museum and other Cultural Treasures there, we did not make protection of the Cultural Treasures in iraq in 2003 following the invasion a priority tarring and it was horrible period in our history. We paid horrible price in the court of World Opinion and one over the works of the mon. S foundation to reestablish that High Standard and we neat upped malt hill the president of the United States, our ceo of the enterprise to come forward and restate what general eisenhower did. Protection and respect for the works of art of other people is important and thats a policy of the United States. Host brian perry tweets in the monuments movie was fun but there is an in depth documentary in the works based on the book orre made. Were having discusses about that. We worked with National Geographic and fox to make a one, hour documentary which showed in the states in conjunction with the release of the film. Its big story. Up until this point in time, it hasnt been told for a variety of reasons. Its taken years of my effort to get three books written and more books 0 forthcoming in the future. So i hope that well have chance to do that. Hope about we see is a feature film on saving italy and its a markable story and a very different kind of problem because italy is a partner of nazi germany the first three years of the war, and it presents all sorts of different problems and a completely different cast of monuments officers. Host we just showed the cover of your books if want to ask about saving italy, the photographer on the cover. Guest a remarkable photograph we found into our research of the david, probably certainly one of the three most wellknown works of art. You think about the story between the mona lisa and the lourve, which hays moved on five separate occasions, which is a story we tell in mon. S men. The last super and the david, both chief nell saving italy. The three most famous works of art are at ground zero of the story. The david is couldnt be moved out of the academia because of the size and weigh sock the local artificials entombed it in brick and the great concern being that an allied bomb might land on the ceiling that would collapse and fall on the david. That didnt sheep the mon. S officer is arriving into the academic ya, standing there watching as the local officials are removing the brick to expose the dade for the first anytime almost three years. Host and on the cover of rescuing davinci. Guest we see another masterpiece by leo leonardo davinci. This photo in 1946, the mon. S officers are standing in front of a train outdoors, holding this painting with their bare handed. They removed it from the crate. Its one painting on one train car of 26 train cars filled with stolen works of art from poland and theyre returning it, and at the charter rescue museum. Host matthew in tacoma, washington. Youre on with robert ed