Robert M. Edsel, author, founder, and president, Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art. During World War II, a special force known as the Monuments Men, of museum directors, curators, art historians, and others from 13 different nations, risked their lives to prevent the destruction of cultural treasures Robert M. Edsel, author of The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, discusses how these men and women protected what they could of Europe's great art in this podcast recorded on January 17, 2010, at the National Gallery of Art.