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Edsel is the founder of the Dallas-based Monuments Men and Women Foundation, which has dedicated itself to uncovering and rescuing art plundered by the Nazis.

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Picasso, Rembrandt, Renoir, da Vinci – just a few of the artists whose masterpieces were stolen by the Nazis. On this episode of DIA Connections, Robert Edsel, author of The Monuments Men, talks about the greatest treasure hunt in history and the scholar soldiers who found civilizations' most important artistic and cultural treasures. You’ll also hear about DIA’s current mission to protect our shared cultural heritage.

His unit, tasked with safeguarding European art and culture amid the destruction and plunder of war, was dramatized in the film ‘The Monuments Men’

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Josh Gates hunts for Third Reich secrets as he searches for stolen art in a flooded tunnel complex, tries to decode an officer's diary pointing to tons of plundered Nazi gold and visits the ruins of a city burned to ashes in the final days of WWII.

The museum says they possess it rightfully while grandchildren of a previous owner say it should be returned due to the way it left their heir.

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Museum leaders look for ways to protect or move icons; debate brews over whether to keep them in the country

The head of the Monuments Men Foundation on the pain-staking research into the real history behind a Bellotto painting at the MFAH.

The Monuments Men Foundation is squaring off against the MFAH in the court of public opinion.

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The show Hunting Nazi Treasure debuts May 1 on the American Heroes Channel

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The Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on how ISIS* is profiting from its theft and looting of antiquities, artifacts, and other cultural materials. The hearing also explored the terrorist group’s destruction of cultural symbols it finds inconsistent with its ideology. Witnesses included the director of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, whose mission is to protect international cultural property during periods of armed conflict, and the author of the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History that was adapted into a motion picture.

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House and Senate leaders held a ceremony to award the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of the Monuments Men, a group of men and women who protected and recovered historical sites and cultural artifacts during World War II.

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The Monuments Men Foundation, created to honor and further the work of the World War II art experts who saved cultural treasures looted by the Nazis, will probably cease ongoing operations this month, its creator said Wednesday.

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Jeffrey Brown talks to author Robert Edsel about his new book "The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History."

Nel nuovo libro dello scrittore Usa spicca la figura di Deane Keller che difese il Camposanto di Pisa

In un libro dell’uomo d’affari texano Edsel i protagonisti della tutela di tesori come il Cenacolo

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After U.S. Army Pvt. Harry L. Ettlinger got the confiscated stained-glass windows out of the Nazis’ secret salt mine, he took a walk down one of its long corridors and came to a bricked-up doorway.

Lives are not all that is lost in war, as this tribute to unsung heroes reminds us.

When Robert Edsel was 42 — having sold his Texas oil- and gas-exploration business for $37 million — he, his wife and their 3-year-old son moved to Florence, Italy, in search of "something different."

Robert Edsel, author of The Monuments Men, responded to viewer comments and questions.

Robert Edsel talked about his book, Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures From the Nazis, in which he reports on the rescue and protection of historic pieces of art in Italy during World War II. The Nazi Army, who occupied Italy in 1943, looted numerous historic artifacts and artwork that dated from the Renaissance and the Roman Empire. In his book, the author recounts the Allied mission to reacquire the artwork and focuses on the efforts of two men, art scholar Fred Hartt and artist Deane Keller, who pursued missing works by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Donatello.

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After nearly seven decades, the men and women of the Army’s Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, the “Monuments Men,” are having one heckuva of a moment. The international unit, chiefly Americans and Brits, who helped hunt down and rescue priceless cultural and artistic treasures — by da Vinci, Rodin, Michelangelo — looted by the Nazis during World War II, are getting a chorus of hosannas locally and nationally.

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In partnership with the Monuments Men Foundation, Sony also launches informational and educational websites with lesson plans and maps detailing the team's historical efforts.

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In 1914, shortly after Germany invaded neutral Belgium, the German authorities exacted revenge for the shooting of several of their soldiers on patrol in Louvain. They executed more than 200 civilians, then methodically set fire to homes and to the University of Louvain’s library. About 250,000 books went up in flames, including 800 that had been printed before the year 1500. Rebuilt and lavishly restocked between the wars, the library once again went up in flames in May 1940, the result of German shelling in World War II. This time, 900,000 books were reduced to ashes, 200,000 of which had been donated by Germany under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Antique books by Isaac Newton and other historical figures, lifted from an Italian church by a G.I. during World War II, were returned in a ceremony at the Italian Embassy here on Wednesday, the latest in a call for aging veterans and their families to repatriate such "souvenirs" of the war.

The forces that tore Europe apart during World War II also coveted its artistic heritage.

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Robert Edsel talked about his book, Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation’s Treasures From the Nazis, in which he reports on the rescue and protection of historic pieces of art in Italy during World War II. The Nazi Army, who occupied Italy in 1943, looted numerous historic artifacts and artwork that dated from the Renaissance and the Roman Empire. In his book, the author recounts the Allied mission to reacquire the artwork and focuses on the efforts of two men, art scholar Fred Hartt and artist Deane Keller, who pursued missing works by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Donatello.

The way Robert Edsel tells the story, it all began in 1997 on the Ponte Vecchio. He'd recently sold his oil-and-gas exploration business for $37 million, and moved to Florence with no grand plan except to find a grand passion.

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Mr. Edsel talked about the extent and premeditation of the Nazi art collection efforts and ongoing efforts to restore artwork, including by his foundation. Mr. Edsel used slides and video during his presentation during which he paid tribute to all veterans.

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A newly discovered catalogue of artworks stolen by Nazis compiled for Adolf Hitler could help unravel the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of lost materpieces seized during the Second World War.

Robert Edsel talked about his book, Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis Stole Europe’s Great Art: America and Her Allies Recovered It, published by Laurel Publishing.

He was interviewed at the 30th Annual National Press Club Book Fair and Authors' Night, a fundraiser for the Eric Friedheim National Journalism Library.

Robert Edsel presented to the National Archives newly discovered material related to art works stolen by the Nazis during World War II. This was volume 8 of Hitler’s approximately 85 albums of records of stolen art work. The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art kept temporary possesion of volume 6 in order to promote their projects. Archivist Allen Weinstein had hailed this discovery as “one of the most significant finds related to Hitler’s premeditated theft of art and other cultural treasures to be found since the Nuremberg Trials.” A video clip was shown of the other 39 known volumes being presented as evidence at the Nuremburg Trials on December 18, 1945. After talking about the National Archives work on stolen art, Mr. Edsel and the archivists answered questions. The press conference was held in the Archivist’s Reception Room.

Robert Edsel talked about his book, Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis Stole Europe’s Great Art: America and Her Allies Recovered It, published by Laurel Publishing. Robert Edsel described the Nazi theft of Europe’s artistic treasures during World War II and their recovery by the Allies. He detailed the work of the 350 servicemen and women who were responsible for protecting and liberating masterpieces by artists such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. His talk included a visual presentation of photographs from his book. After his presentation he responded to audience members' questions.