Presenting his new book for young readers, The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History: The Story of the Monuments Men, author Robert M. Edsel recounted the astonishing true story of the men and women who risked their lives amid the bloodshed of World War II to preserve churches, libraries, monuments, and works of art that for centuries defined the heritage of Western civilization.

 “When we started out in creating the Monuments Men Foundation and this broad vision of sharing this remarkable and at the time untold story, the two main objectives were to raise worldwide awareness about of who these men and women were and the fact that the leaders in the preservation of cultural history and works of art was the United States,” he said. “(That’s) something that people didn’t know about, and we Americans didn’t know about, and it’s something we should’ve been very proud about. (The other objective) was to make sure the Monuments Men and Women were recognized and thanked by the United States, because they came home long after the war was over and by then there was already a Cold War, people had moved on, and they’d never got any recognition. So we wanted to make sure that was rectified.”

Watch the full presentation below. Shop the Museum Store for a signed copy of The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History. Read more about Edsel and The National WWII Museum. Visit the Museum’s online events calendar for upcoming public programming.