I will read this book again in the future. A very interesting twist on things.

A very informative book about a little known and even less cared for aspect of the Nazi era and its aftermath. What a heartbreaking chronicle of the almost complete destruction of so many libraries and collections. It gets a bit overwhelming. The only thing that kept it from ending on a completely disheartening note was the bittersweet story of restitution that the author was able to facilitate.
The author gives the history behind some of the most famous libraries in pre-WW2 Europe such as the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana in Amsterdam, the Bibliotheque Russe Tourqueniev, the Bibliotheque Polonaise, and the Biblioteca della Comunita Israelitica. Rydell did a very good job of combining the details of the destruction of each library with the reasoning, as used by the Nazis, behind its destruction or confiscation. Then he carefully tracks the movements each collection are it is broken apart, transferred, stored, lost, liberated or destroyed.
It’s an interesting example of politics and greed getting in the way of justice, but it also is a tribute to those very few who are doing their best to restore some of these stolen treasures to their rightful owners. Even today governments are arguing about who these books belong to.
The only negative I had was the naming of each library or organization in its native language. I didn’t mind that at the introduction of each, but the repeated use of the full name in a foreign language really broke my concentration as I tried to remember the translation of each name.
I received this as a free ARC from NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking. No review was required.

Ander Rydell reveals a fascinating, comprehensive account of a Neglected nuance of World War II, the tradegy of pilfered books.
He traveled around Europe gathering details concerning the millions of volumes that the Nazis plundered, from both private and public libraries. The author also described the current tireless task of many to painstakingly return as many volumes to their rightful place, and the meticulous detective work that feat entailed. The sheer magnitude of stolen books is staggering, as well as the millions that were destroyed during the war or left to rot in the ensuing decades. Rydell also thoroughly described how the Soviet Union ransacked collections and how gradually some of those books have made their way back into the public venue, although many still languish, packed away in cartons and boxes twenty six years after the demise of communism.
The Book Thieves contributes to the scholarship of World War II by examining the cultural robbery perpetuated by the Nazis, yet one more colossal crime committed by the Third Reich.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

Recently, I attended the 2017 MLA conference. There were several panels, more like hundreds and while some of them were a little dull, many of the ones I attended were awesome. One of the best was a panel about the destruction or taking of the libraries those a nation conquers. The focus was largely on the Israel/Palestine question in terms of those libraries (and the panel had to be hastily resembled apparently), but the points raised are good ones. Want to control or destroy a people, want to control a narrative? You must control the literature to do this. You must control access and literary as well.
It’s like art, and after all, literature is part of the arts.
Over the past several years, there have been various movies and books about the Nazis obsession with art. Usually that definition of art has been defined as the visual arts – paintings, sculptures - yet some writers, such as Lynn H. Nicholas do mention and go into some detail about the Nazis confiscating of the Torah. Outside of this, mention of the destruction of Jewish books, there has been little in general history, and perhaps just English, about the Nazis derive to get books, to raid libraries. Anders Rydell’s book, The Book Thieves, addresses this.
Rydell looks at the Nazi’s looting, not just of Jewish libraries, but of city and country libraries and archives. He also looks at those libraries that gained volumes, sometimes huge collections because of the circumstances of invasion and looting. The story starts as many book stories do – with a book that is at its heart a mystery. Any buyer or reader of a previously owned or used book, there sometimes is a mystery about the previous owner – an inscription, a bookplate, underlining – something that is a clue about the before. Rydell is part of returning this book to a descendent of the original owner.
The book itself traces not only the vanishing of private libraries but the battle to save and smuggle books to safety. The books in danger include religious works, fiction, and old manuscripts. The stories are at times inspiring - as the German librarians who are determined to trace the owners or their descendants of books that the library gain though less than moral means. At times the stories are depressing, such as the Italian library that lost its treasures and has yet to find them. There are the Dutch who brave death to save works.
Rydell’s book adds another and important layer to the history of the Nazi attack on culture.

A fascinating account of the roles of books in war and what may be in store for us again.

I have lived in the midwestern United States for all of my life. Much of my physical travel has not included areas outside the borders of it, either. However, books have always provided me a glimpse of other nations and other cultures--ways of life that have expanded my esoteric understanding of the world.
This is one of the reasons I get pretty bent out of shape when censorship is brought up. My personal belief system centers around free thought, even when—especially when—one's ideas differ from my own. A limitation on free thought manifests into a ban on freedom of speech, which eventually includes a ban of public protest, journalism, and fiction and non fiction writing. Inevitably, censorship sets of a thunderous dynamo effect in my mind that schematically ends somewhere near book burning.
“The Book Thieves” by Anders Rydell seeks to explore the nature of how this exestential and literal ban on the word came to be, including the Nazi looting of Europe's libraries. “The theft of their culture was,” Rydell notes, “a way of robbing [the people] of their history, their humanity, and, in the final analysis, any posibility of remembrance.” This books is imperative not only in content but also in hope: let us not forget from whence we came so we for certain do not return.
The book begins with a look at Berlin, specifically the genesis of book burning. The books “were stolen not for honor and not only out of greed either—but rather for...the most important ideologues of the Third Reich... the targets of this plunder were the ideological enemies of the movement—Jews, Communists, Freemasons, Catholics...” (Foreward). Readers are asked to remember, right away, that the theft of books was not just physical property theft but also ideas; oppositional ideaologies were purloined to quell uprising.
As the book continues, several areas of Europe are addressed, including: Weimar, Munich, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Prague, among others. There is a section or chapter for every book lover, historically inclined or otherwise. Without knowledge of what has happened to our books--our loves--then what will keep us from noticing perilous admonitions in the future? As the Edmund Burke (Santayana too) adage says, “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”
As an educator, I highly recommend this book for secondary history courses or upper elective or required literature courses. The chapters are approachable, a mix of present-day research and citations of historical statistics. The current text sits at approximately 300 pages, which is very doable for a high school classroom or a general ed. required college course. Approximately 7% of the book is notes or citations for where the historical statistics and references can be found, which could provide an interesting research query project all on its own.
Overall I found the book to be an interesting and well rounded review of one of the worst atrocities to the written word from the 21st century. I feel it is an imperative educational apex, and I hope that educators (and all citizens with respect for the written word) review this book for what it is: a catalog, a counsel, and a caution.