The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History was written in 2009 by art enthusiast Robert M. Edsel. Edsel was born in late December of 1956 and grew up in the United States. He moved with his family to Florence, Italy in 1996, where he developed a new passion for art and architecture and he acquired a hobby – and an eventual career – of researching European art preservation, especially that of The Monuments Men during World War II. His background, to some, may prove to be a bias in his writing, since Edsel never formally studied or lectured on history and art before moving to Europe, and he did not begin researching the work of The Monuments Men until around the year 2001. This bias could also be…show more content… Edsel used evidence throughout The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History was through using footnotes that are expanded upon at the end of the novel and including photographs to bring an entire new meaning to the historical novel. These footnotes are direct citations from historical authors, dictators, journal entries, historical books, and, most often, the Monuments Men themselves. As he does many times throughout the novel, on pages 275-279, Edsel had taken direct letters that Monuments Men Walker Hancock and George Stout had written to their wives. Edsel used these letters as direct evidence of what was happening at this point in the book, and used a similar tactic numerous times throughout the length of the novel, especially in the first two sections of the book, when the Monuments Men are just starting their seemingly impossible mission. On pages 207 and 367, Robert M. Edsel introduced another brilliant tactic, which was the use of photographic evidence. On page 207 and 367 of The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, Edsel reveals to his readers many of the physical artifacts that had been stolen in Europe, as well as detailed maps and personal photographs that brought the story of The Monuments Men to life. Robert M. Edsel was highly successful in his use of evidence throughout the entirety of his novel about the heroes of the preservation of…show more content… Through the chaos and destruction, The Monuments Men worked tirelessly, encountering incredible, lost parts of the world’s culture. By the end of the fourth section, Germany surrendered from the war. This section of Robert M. Edsel’s The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History is as wondrous as it is essential to the story of the brave Monuments Men because it acts as a physical representation of the calm after the storm. The reader had personally experienced the heartache, travels, and great adventures of these heroic soldiers to this point, and watching the enemy crumble served to prove their heroism to be as worthy as the soldiers who were actually on the