Hildebrand Gurlitt would, perhaps, wished above all else to be a respected bureaucrat in Germany's art museums. But, it was not to be. As a man "reduced" to being an art dealer, and one who suffered in the Third Reich from having had a Jewish Grandmother, he had to learn how to tap dance in occupations that the Nazis found temporarily useful. If he had shifted his family to the western Democracies, he might have survived as a low level art Gallery operator, or manager, specializing in German Expressionist or surrealiast art. But, he instead became part of the massive art theft that benefited Hitler or Goering by looting Jewish collectors and painters until the end of the war. To survive, he learned to bully and loot, and to prosper, he started using all of the techniques to steal for himself. He was clever, and managed to survive the war, and squirrel away from the former owners a massive amount of the paintings of the 1930's. He died in a traffic accident, still sitting on his hoard. Only when his son failed at quietly disposing of some of the works did the mass of his "Collection" come to the notice of the law enforcement agencies of the turn of the millenium.
The account is clearly written and the tale instructive for anyone placed in a position of trust dealing with other people's wealth. ( )

What a great disappointment. Frankly, I had to stop reading half-way through. As another reviewer notes, it is far more about the history of Germany in WWI and WWII than an account anyone interested in art history would appreciate, despite all the detailed research and footnotes. The story calls out for a good editing, and much repetition of ideas and a steady stream of names and events that don't add significantly to the narrative. And the writing is stilted. Weaving major moments in European history into the life of the Gurlitt family is awkward. One example: On January 19 [1915] , the first zeppelin attack hit Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in Norfolk, killing five civilians. It was the first airborne attack on British soil. [Next paragraph] The Gurlitt family had worrying news, too. ..." !!! ( )

Though this book is about many things what one really has here is a family history as one follows the professional rise and fall of the Gurlitts; from the father (a professor of art history) to the main subject of this book (one of Hitler's prime art procurers) to the somewhat hapless son of Hildebrand who fell victim to modern security theater and was thus discovered to be the custodian of his father's illegally gathered hoard. I know that some reviewers have been put off by how this seems to be more a history of 20th century Germany than a work of art history but what this helps to illustrate is how Hildebrand Gurlitt became an example of one of the characteristic social types of the Third Reich; the young man or woman who grew up in the shadow of the wreck of the Second Reich and who was determined to get what they considered their just due, regardless of whose hide it came out of. If you keep this in mind you'll get rather more out of this story, as one follows a man who had already lost his ideals in the Great War and was determined to secure his fortune; keeping in mind that the Gurlitt family already had a grim determination to keep up appearances at all cost (having more than their share of skeletons to keep closeted). ( )

I'm pretty sure my picking this up was a coincidence of timing, but it might have been Freudian - who knows?

Either way it was a massive disappointment. The inside flap begins:
The sensational story of a cache of masterpieces that vanished during the Nazi terror—a bizarre tale of secret deals and the search for truth featured on the front page of the New York Times.

Well, the discovery of the cache was sensational, but the discovery of said cache was only the last two chapters of the book and the first half, the first 16 chapters all took place before WWII - in fact the book starts prior to WW1.

I don't know why I didn't DNF the book; it was, in reality, not meant for the average reader with a fair-to-middling knowledge of history. Ronald had to have meant this for the serious history buffs and true academics with a solid familiarisation of most, if not all, of the players. She threw so many names at the reader, and wrote so ponderously, it was almost impossible to come away with anything resembling comprehension without a lot of effort. Sentences that should have been clear were convoluted; Ronald would mention several names and then throw pronouns around willy-nilly so I never quite knew who she was talking about at any given moment.

While I didn't care at all about why Hildebrand and his son 'became' the men they did, (which made up all of the first half of the book and a chunk of the second), once the Nazi's took over Germany and Hildebrand's weakness of character and larcenous heart were allowed free reign, the book became gripping and almost un-put-downable. Still ponderously written, but fascinating. The second half saved this book. The last two chapters were why I bought the book in the first place and I'm left irritated that the author wasted so much paper when she could have been using it to expand on Cornelius and what Germany is doing (and not doing) with all the great works found in his apartment.

So while a true historian might find this to be a satisfying, well-researched read (and it is meticulously researched), I was left with the feeling that Susan Ronald embedded a magazine article into a monstrous pile of extraneous history in order to justify calling it a book. ( )

I won this book in the LibraryThing giveaway. Hitler's Art Thief by Susan Ronald is a detailed history of Cornelius Gurlitt and the massive collection of art that his father illegally obtained during the Nazi Era. It is amazing that much of this story did not come to light until recently. It took me a little while to get through this book as it was a little dry in sections and is the sort of book you need to be in the right frame of mind for, but overall very interesting especially for those interested in art. ( )