Hitler's Art Thief - Hardcover

Ronald, Susan

3.3

363 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1250061091 ISBN 13: 9781250061096

Publisher: St. Martins Press, 2015

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

The world was stunned when eighty-year old Cornelius Gurlitt became an international media superstar in November 2013 on the discovery of over 1,400 artworks in his 1,076 square-foot Munich apartment, valued at $1.35 billion. Gurlitt became known as a man who never was - he didn't have a bank account, never paid tax, never received social security. He simply did not exist. He had been hard-wired into a life of shadows and secrecy by his own father long before he had inherited his art collection built on the spoliation of museums and Jews during Hitler's Third Reich. The ensuing media frenzy unleashed international calls for restitution, unsettled international relations, and rocked the art world. Ronald reveals in this stranger-than-fiction-tale how Hildebrand Gurlitt succeeded in looting in the name of the Third Reich, duping the Monuments Men and the Nazis alike. As an "official dealer" for Hitler and Goebbels, Hildebrand Gurlitt became one of the Third Reich's most prolific art looters. Yet he stole from Hitler too, allegedly to save modern art. This is the untold story of Hildebrand Gurlitt, who stole more than art-he stole lives, too.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

"[A] riveting portrait of Gurlitt, who detested the Nazis, and stole from them, but did their bidding in the name of 'saving modern art.'" --The New Yorker

"[A]n exhaustively researched and well written book that has a cautionary tale for all of us" - Forbes

"[A] colorful tale" - USA Today

"Outstanding" - The Jerusalem Post

"Hitler's Art Thief is absolutely gripping from start to finish. Susan Ronald holds nothing back as she lays bare in merciless detail the cunning, greed, and hypocrisy that allowed Hitler's willing accomplices, like the notorious Hildebrand Gurlitt, to feed off human misery to their hearts' content. Everyone should read this book." --Amanda Foreman, bestselling author of A World on Fire

"An illuminating portrait of the 25-year-old woman who led England through religious and political crises with diplomacy, vision and pure force of will." --Kirkus Reviews on HERETIC QUEEN

"A searing account of the dark underside of the Elizabethan golden age. Susan Ronald has written a devastating and important reminder of the long, hard road from religious strife to accommodation." --Amanda Foreman, New York Times bestselling author of The World on Fire and The Duchess, on HERETIC QUEEN

"A triumph in an age when religion continues to be a matter of conflict" --Antonia Fraser, international bestselling author of Marie Antoinette: The Journey, on HERETIC QUEEN

"This is compulsive, engaging and vivid history, and a long-overdue study of the religious settlement of Elizabeth I's reign, packed with eyewitness detail. Susan Ronald has the gift of making us feel we are there, caught up in the crises of faith that affected Elizabeth's subjects. In her capable hands, the drama of the English Reformation comes alive." --Alison Weir, bestselling author of Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley and Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings, on HERETIC QUEEN

About the Author:

Born and raised in the United States, SUSAN RONALD has lived in England for more than twenty-five years. She has consulted for five British government departments and The National Trust, and in addition to Hitler's Art Thief, she is the author of Heretic Queen: Queen Elizabeth I and the Wars of Religion, Shakespeare's Daughter (a novel), The Pirate Queen, The Sancy Blood Diamond, and France: Crossroads of Europe. She also owns a film production company and is a screenwriter and film producer.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.