Museum of the Missing

Title: Museum of the Missing: The High Stakes of Art Crime by Simon Houpt
Genre: Non-Fiction, Art History
Rating: 4/5

Interpol currently lists more than twenty-five thousand works of art as stolen. Each is a piece of a culture's history and together they could fill a museum. A museum of missing art. Museum of the Missing covers the rising value of art from the 1950s, art theft during wars and the creation of art recovery squads.

I loved Museum of the Missing. The topic was extremely interesting and I ended up reading every last word, even though the writing style was a little dry at points. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on art theft in times of war and Hitler's desire to open his own museum of stolen art during World War II. That definitely wasn't something we covered in my high school history classes, but it really underlines how much cultural destruction occurs in a time of war.

This book made me want to go back to school and start studying art and art history again. The reproductions of the artwork are incredible; crisp and vivid. Printing in colour was a smart move on the part of the publisher, and worth the extra cost. This is definitely a book for any art lover or history buff.