95% of the population. thank you. [applause] >> anand we are out of time. i really enjoyed this book but we are really out of time. >> i have a question. i mean, i'm chinese, and become your about 15 years, and just i was working for a newspaper before and then just two years ago i changed another job working for american companies. and just two days ago my an american coworker bought this book for me because he wants to try to encouraging me learn english. and i'm a really honored to be here. so my question is, my english is struggling for me, and how did

you practice the english? what's make you more encouraged to learn english? >> survive. you have to be desperate. you will, you're already in america. and let me tell you, english is much easier than chinese. [laughter] >> thank you. because i'm working for 12 years all the chinese committee always seem, i'm working for the chinese newspaper. as a reporter, too. spent i think the most difficult thing for you will be try to stay away from chinese community. that's what i deny myself for so many years. because i know if i didn't speak english i would never be independent in america. >> that's what i want. thank you so much. i'm really proud of you. >> thank you. thank you. [applause] spent this is a great chicago

story. a great immigrant story. thank you, thank you, so much. >> is there a nonfiction author or book you would like to see featured on booktv? send us an e-mail at booktv@c-span.org. or tweet us at twitter.com/booktv. >> i do think what we are doing does protect american civil liberties and privacy. the issue is, to date, we have not been able to explain it because it's classified. so that issue is something that we are wrestling with, how do we explain this and still keep this nation secure? that's the issue we have in front of us. and so you know that this was something that was debated vigorously in congress. both the house and the senate. within the administration and now work for the court. so when you look at this, this is not us doing something under the covers. this is what we are doing on

behalf of all of us for the good of this country. now what we need to do i think it bring as many thanks as we can at the american people. so i agree with you, but i just want to make that clear because from the perspective is that we are trying to hide something because we did something wrong. we are not. >> this weekend on c-span, the senate appropriations committee looks at u.s. intelligence agencies secret data collection programs. today at 10 a.m. eastern. also this weekend on c-span2's booktv, covered from the publishing industry's annual trade show, book expo america. today at 1:30 p.m. and on c-span3's american history tv, lectures in history from the into slavery to separate but equal, sunday at one. >> up next on booktv, robert edsel reports on the rest in protection of historic pieces of art in italy during world war ii. do not see army, though occupied italy in 1943, looted numerous

historic artifacts and artwork that data from the renaissance and the roman empire. this is about an hour 20 minut minutes. >> well, thank you very much for that warm, stirring well. i really appreciate it. and beth and timothy, and all of my friends in philadelphia, it's a wonderful opportunity to be back in philadelphia, the philadelphia museum of art, one of our nation's great, great museum treasures. how fortunate for you ough all e members of this fine, fine place. "saving italy" is a magnificent story, one i'm really excited to share with you. and it all began for me in 1997. i had moved to florence with my family and i was walking across a bridge one day, the only bridge in florence not destroyed

the nazis as they fled forms in august 1944. and standing on the bridge i wondered how was it in the most constructive conflict in history some 65 million lives lost, that someone of the great works of art and cultural treasures survived, into with the people that saved them? that has led me now into this remarkable journey, now some 15 years, 16 years later, 10 years of my life full-time, and trying to make sure everyone in the world knows this story, a great american story. and i want to introduce you to "saving italy." ♪

♪ ♪ >> our story begins with this failed artist and art, architecture and adolf hitler, but applied to begin again of fine arts and was rejected. art became a weapon of propaganda for the nazis as he rose to power.

and the story begins in may 1938 with hitler and the nazi visits can first state visit to italy beginning and go. they walked through the colosseum with mussolini accounting them. a look at this wonderful sculpture. after four or five days they made to florence on the last day. they only had 10 hours, but more than two of them were allocated to visit the great museums of florence following this introduction of the fewer alongside mussolini. they walked through the quarters starting in the bows and crossed over, and then made it two the museum. hitler felt like an artist walking among artists. having a chance to see masterpiece he'd only seen in books or studied in galleries. he was fascinated with all of these things and it really showed him the art of what was

possible, concerning his dream of building amusing in his hometown. it was going to be known as the fewer using. he made these drawings of sketches working on it in the period following 1938. and ultimate led to the scale model intending to rebuild his entire town and that the center would be this cultural mecca. in september 1939 with nazi germany's invasion of poland, museums throughout europe closed. works of art were packed up and moved outside the city of fear of damage from allied bombing, works were exactly an amount of 10 days, some 400,000 objects. the same took place at the image in 1941 following the blockade. in italy the works were moved on multiple occasions to dulles and the castles in the countryside. works that couldn't be moved

such as the iconic david by michelangelo were entombed in brick, grading this scene of some of the with the adjacent slaves by michelangelo also in tune. the italian museum officials concerned that a bomb might land destroying the ceiling and they could only hope that this brick and tune with the flight the following rough and save the sculpture. of course leonardo da vinci's most important work, the last supper, painted on the north wall in santa maria, north wall was protected with sandbags and wooden scaffolding held in place by braces on both sides of the wall out of the same fear. and, in fact, that fear was realized in august 1943 when a british bomb, part of their effort to firebomb the cultural center of milan, landed in the courtyard and obliterated the

cloister area, blowing out the east wall of the dining hall here on the right, and leaving the last supper exposed to the elements behind this wooden scaffolding. it would be sometime before italian officials could build a new rough and it would be two years before the monuments officers would arrive in the long and begin the effort to supervise the removal of the sandbags and the scaffolding and determine whether or not the work of art actually would survive, whether the law would stand. this was the scene shortly after the bomb fell, and you can see the sandbags here on the side of the scaffolding. this diagram actually provide an even more clear perspective showing sandbags on both sides of the north wall. about the same point in time, "the new york times" released a newspaper article letting everyone know that the group had been formed to try and create a new kind of soldier, a soldier

charged with saving, not destroying. and their official group name was monuments fine arts and archives section to the responsibly was to try and help allied air commanders steer bombing away from these kind of cultural targets and avoid these close calls and other destruction. by the time their boots on the ground, they were charged with attempted to try to effect temporary repairs to churchill's monuments and other important structure trying to build -- and ultimately as they reach some of these city said suffered severe and by the nazis, they became de facto architectures chasing down some the most important masterpieces worth billions of dollars all the way down to the end of the world. this was an experiment that had not been tried before. nothing on this scale, involving a group of men and women, museum directors, curators, art historians, architects, and artists eric su son were artist,

who volunteered for service. most all these many women had established careers. many have families. their average age was about 40. about 70% were americans, 30% british. they had every reason in the world do not volunteer for military service, but they felt that a contribution to make and they did volunteer. they went into combat, attached to the various armies, intending to work with them. and the very first monuments officer was a classics professor from harvard called mason and. hammond arrived in sicily some three weeks after combat operations have begun, and it was typical of the difficulties this experiment had in the early stages. hammond was initially flown, not sent over on the ship, but flown to north africa because president roosevelt understood war was proceeding at a pace faster than the monuments officers could be assembled and trained. and he thought that he was

actually going to become a monuments officers or north africa. only when he arrived at their they told and you're getting ready to go to sicily. he made numerous efforts to go to the library to study up on what he was going to be seen, but army intelligence prevent him from doing it because they were convinced german spies might have their hands to. so this is the kind of one step forward, two back the monmouth officers begin with and they came in the months that followed one by one, monuments officers from the united states, and from great britain, assigned often times without jeeps, without transportation, without a staff. they didn't have cameras your when cameras did arrive they didn't have come into. but these middle-aged man had positions of great response but without the resources to do their job before, and they were unintimidated by it. they were resourceful and clever and very firmly with europe. many of them having been schooled over there. but by the time december 1943

arrived, the mistakes and difficulties of trying to get this operation were donated with the military resulted in numerous requests of general eisenhower and the chief of staff, general marshall, to issue a directive not just to commanders but to all troops. and general eisenhower issued his historic directive on december 29, 9043 that said it was the responsibility not just of his commanders but all soldiers to protect cultural treasures so much as were a loud. general eisenhower's directive stated, if it comes down to the lives of our men or an object, the lives of four men count more. but he also pointed out too often times this is an excuse of convenience. this was the foundation for the work of the monuments. they felt finally dead some legs underneath their effort. and the backing, and the very first test of general eisenhower's order, the first major test came just 45 days

later in a battle that a drug on a month and a half and would last for another two and a half months with american and british forces convinced german forces had occupied this ancient abbey of the area and the decision was ultimately made out of a desire to try and mitigate the loss of life and horrific casualties to bomb the abbey and try and force the germans that some commanders were convinced it were lodged inside out of the abbey. ..

there were enormous successes that as a result of coordination with allied air commanders those of you that have been to florence probably recognize this church which is located some 467 feet away from the train station where most people who visit florence are arrived. and the allies determined to try to help troops pinned down on the beaches, attempted to knock out the rail yard in the center area of florence and in fact the railyard was so close to the church this is the most precarious but successful bombing mission, perhaps the most successful bombing missions during world war ii. you see the bridges less than half a mile away from where the

bombing took place. by april and may of 1944 two key monuments officers' in position and it is through their experiences that i tell the story of saving the monuments, deane keller was a portrait painter who study in rome from 1926 to 1929, is in the american academy of room, after that prof. of art at yale and left behind his wife and 3-year-old son dino. keller was not only charged with a tremendous responsibility of being the monuments officer for u.s. fifth army but also trying to be a dad from a long distance and understanding his son couldn't read letters, put his artistic skills to work and started sending home drawings. dozens of drawings and this is a drawing of him selling his fifth army patch onto his uniform in naples and later one of three

birthday celebrations he missed of his son wishing him well. the other monuments officer we focus on was a budding art scholar named fred hard, hard was 29 years old, quite a bit younger than teller and most monument officers. you visit europe on a number of occasions, visited a long, love the art, it was his dream to save these works of art and save the things in this country that meant so much to him as a youth growing up and as the war then advanced beyond the valley, north through rome, north through cnn and reached the tuscan hills outside the city of florence the monuments officers' arrived to a terrific discovery, one that horrified them, with the news that this castle right

outside florence house works of art from the museums in florence that rather leaning up against walls, they had been led to believe by italian officials when they arrived in rome that the works of art from florence had been moved into the city, and all of the way of oncoming ground combat but they found out quickly that this was not the case. it set the alarm bells of, the handful of monuments officers' that there were at this point, only twenty or so gathered and attempted to get as many of them to florence and tuscany as they could out of fear the more velez had these works of art and might be looted or actually damaged in the combat. fred heart was there. by the time keller arrives it was too late for these works to be moved back into the city. standing next to polk a jelly's

work of art in this one villa, there were 38 other villains containing similar works of art that had been moved out of the city by the superintendent. german field marshal who was determined to avoid making mistakes he helped -- felt had been made in rome by hitler's order to not destroy the bridges of rome, he was in the process of supervising the demolition charges that were being set on all the bridges in florence trying to to delay the allied advance and this was the scene. by the time the monuments officers' and the u.s. fifth army british a comair arrived in florence all the bridges with the exception of the punch of the deal which on hitler's orders was not destroyed but it was the lesser of the important

bridges, the less important be a bridge is designed was influenced by michelangelo. hitler had been told that in his visit in 1938 but he would have nothing of it. he was convinced he knew better than the historians who were advising him and that the pontiff becky was the important bridge and he ordered it not be destroyed. the problem kesselring and his troops first was in an effort to avoid destroying the bridge a a concentrated effort to destroy access to the bridge on both ends. this is a drawing of -- fred hartt drew, the areas in black are areas that were demolished. looked like a vote moons kick. the gray areas were severely damaged. you see the pontiff akio did survive but in an effort to avoid destroying the there was so much extra demolition charges placed in the adjacent buildings and in particular the 13, 14, fifteenth century medieval towers that had for so many

centuries the find the city of florence lost out of an effort to keep his lesser bridge and this was the scene. dupont of akio surviving but as you can see on the south side, on either side of the bridge all the buildings simply erase changing the landscape, the fingerprint of florence forever. . the monuments officers' upon arriving in rome had learned from rome officials that the works of art from the museum in naples had been placed at this at the in december of 1943, january 1944 german troops in a much trumpeted and highly visible ceremony delivered the works of art including this painting, and another painting to rome in front of the palace of venice where you may have

seen mussolini standing on the balcony speaking and it was an effort on their part to show the world german forces were not stealing works of art, they had removed these things knowing the ground war was headed their and their effort was to safeguard these works. there were cameras to film this, ceremonies, wonderful words exchanged but because of the advancing war rome officials did not have time to go through and inventory these works of art from museums in naples which also included works herculean and pompeii but by the time the monuments officers' are arrived in june after the liberation of rome on june 4th, 1944, and inventory was taken and monuments officers' in conjunction with italian officials realize 187 cases of works of art were missing and in fact they learned complete facts, there had been a deliberate effort to open many

of these cases and select which works were going to be taken with different paintings and different cases not matching the inventory, some cleverly put back together, some hastily done so. with this information's a monuments officers' had their first knowledge that there was a deliberate effort to steal works of art and this was the first significant theft they were looking to try to find these works of art so li cunxin -- fred hartt be aware of this contacted geo funny cody who is a fascinating figure, an elderly man by world war 2, he was a young man who played an important role in world war 1 in the protection of the cultural treasures of tuscany and of the nation. here was a man who had already been through this drill once before but he had an interesting experience in 1911-1912. some of you may now be another

da vinci's mona lisa was stolen from the louvre in 1911 by an italian who was determined to read history of this work of art to his country and he brought it back and testing operation which involve him in 1914 the painting was recovered. those of you who have been to florence may have passed the hotel where the work was actually found and he brought it, it was temporarily placed on exhibition before he accompanied it back to the louvre in december of 1913. he told fred hartt the story about german art preservation officers who did appear on the scene in late 1943. the german policy towards our protection was to have art protection officers in countries that had been occupied but if lee was a complicated situation because for the first three years of the war it was an ally of nazi germany so there were no

german art protection officers and with the change of allegiance by german forces in september of 1943, one act of destruction and looting began including as we saw shortly thereafter the looting of the works from the museum in naples. the fate of so many works of art in italy rested than upon the individual commanders in the field and there were acts of burning of library objects, books, museum objects such as paintings and drawings and this news was conveyed to fred hartt, posey mentioned an ss officer who was head of the german protectorate unit, there were some outstanding german scholars that did try to do a good job protecting these works of art but wang's fourth --langsdorff was someone who wanted allied

officers after the war after interrogating them referred to as a man who had won half his heart dedicated the protection of a surge but another have dedicated to the s s and pogee told fred hartt about the agreement with german officials that under no circumstances where these works of art that had been placed in the nearby the months and castles in the tuscan hills to be removed without authorization from pogee and yet they discovered works had been removed, hundreds of works of art including michelangelo's culture of bacchus, donatello's st. george, a painting -- two works of art by the german painter so greatly admired by nazi party leaders, hitler had coveted these works

of art during 19381940 visits to florence and they were gone. in fact fred -- fred hartt would later say with the loss of 529 paintings, 162 works of sculpture, all totaling 735 objects, that florence suffered a robbery on a scale to dwarf the degradations of napoleon. langdorff wasn't acting alone with supervision and approval of a man known as as as general carl wolf, a figure often overlooked in our study about this part of the world. wolf is a fascinating figure. for seven leaders he is at this into heinrich himmler. from 1936-1943 is a favorite of hitler. sorry, favorite of himmler but also a favorite of hitler, and as as liaison to fear

headquarters, looked at by hitler as this area, tall figure, very aristocratic in appearance, blond hair, cultivated. wolf can be seen just over the shoulder of himmler on one of their many visits to concentration camps, this one in minsk in the soviet union, wolf plays a role later referred to as dead as a murderer signing documents that help facilitate the train system moving concentration camp in turn he's from one place to the camps. in september 1943 following the removal of mussolini from office and the change of allegiance by italy, switching sides. adolf hitler, in a rage, swears german forces are going to go into the vatican and empty its

of its cultural objects and treasures and takes wolf aside and assigned him secretly this responsibility including kidnapping, one general later argued kill pope pius xii. wolf thought this was a pretty bad idea. he understood enough about it lead to know the catholic church and the vatican played an integral role in maintaining the country. and a topic of ongoing research and differing opinions these were uttered at one point in time and will manage to delay implementation of this order, distractions occurred and he worked very hard to implement what he referred to as the easy hand and cultivate a relationship. vatican officials realizing

there could be favors the extent and thinking ahead, the works of art from florence were removed over bomb crater roads and strafed by allied pilots using trucks and fuel which general wolfe made available for langdorff. the understanding was these were the safest and in florence didn't move into the cities because the trucks they had worked confiscated by german forces. they needed to be saved. they were hidden, taken to an area, an area that is predominantly german-speaking even to this day. these works of art were unloaded and you see the minimal amount of protection they provided

moving some 320 miles north over these roads, sometimes no tarps, these paintings are arriving in light drizzle and seeing the paintings swinging back and forth on the truck over the vibration of the roads and it was there that they stayed, wolf understanding they were not going to be returned. the italians were clamoring to have them and move to an area they felt was safer under their control, and neither was he by december of 1944 willing to obey orders from his former boss, himmler who wanted them moved to austria and germany and the salt mine, wolf profess that that change, vehicles and gasoline to deliver them at that point in time and there were shortages wolf had the resources to do it,

had he wanted to. he had not one but two families that had a family with a lady who was a brunette, ignoring some of his biology lessons finally realized he wasn't going to have any blond children with this woman and divorced her and got married to his second wife and had a happy result with the children that were born. he was very concerned by january's that this war was going to end and nazi germany was on the verge of defeat. convinced the days were numbered and knowing other nazi party leaders would be jockeying for opportunities to make their own deals to survive wolf's gifted survival skills surfaced, he made contact with 0 s s leader precursor to the cia allen dulles, america's chief spymaster in europe working in switzerland. over the next few months wolf

made several visits incognito in civilian clothes outside the eye of adolf hitler and trying to work outside the vision of his former boss himmler to discuss his desire to surrender all german forces in italy that secretly surrendered more than a million troops. this is something he felt he could negotiate and pull off. he offered other incentives, the scorched earth policies which it had provided to his commanders for the great industrial cities of northern italy, loaf promised he would make sure his ss forces ignored those orders. there were some 350 pilots from the united states and great britain and other political prisoners being held by s s forces, wolf promise their safety and other things on the list, he also informed dulles

about these 800 some of the masterpieces that were under his control that he would make sure were delivered to allied forces. dulles was under extremely strict instructions from president roosevelt that he could have the meeting with wolf and listen to what he had to say but under no circumstances was he to enter into any kind of negotiations much less make any deals with this leading nazi officer, something dulles to his grave swore that he did. however, it is interesting to note that carl wolf managed to survive the war and was not prosecuted at nuremberg. he did appear there as a witness for the prosecution. unaware of all these negotiations going on behind the scenes monuments officer fred heart is determined to find these works of art which he loved in studied so much. he took it upon himself, this

impulse of risk-taking officer to contact another 0 s s man that he met, an italian-american and plea for his health to use his agents behind enemy lines to try to track down the whereabouts, he recruited a man with a perfect disguise, a priest who is a partisan and a brigade that worked behind the lines. he was recruited to try to use his net worth and what better disguise than wearing the outfit of a priest. there were difficulties to getting in the areas he needed to be so they decided they would fly behind enemy lines and allow him to have his very first airplane ride going up but the plane couldn't land so they had to sit him at the parachute so he could jump out and the story proliferates that after having

jumped out the couple of officers in the back of the plane looked and saw his prayer book and the pilots circled around and wrapped it in a ragged and tied a rope around it and dropped out so don amale became known as the legendary fly increased among his parishioners. on may 2nd call wolf's dream was realized. in the surrender document signed -- this is wolf on the right side and the man on the second from the left is the right hand man to allen dulles who hooked up with wolf shortly afterwards, about weekend half later. the surrender was kept secret for three more days until may 5th to allow both sides to work out the terms of their cease-fire before it was ultimately announced. the first surrender of german forces during world war ii.

days later, news came to deane keller with the two locations of the works of art taken from florence, the paintings and sculpture many of which had been moved and he arrived at this jail cell in a town to go through each of these individual cells so packed with works of art he couldn't even move some of the paintings to see what were behind all of them but they read these masterpieces which fred hartt alluded to, adjacent carriage house and number of the sculptures. deane keller at fred hartt and brian perkins who can be seen on the right, also arrived to find some of the german officers including langdorff in the center. langdorff was very put out that

it had taken fred hartt so long to get there and he wanted to make it clear that he was acting under the orders of general wolfe to tender custody of these works of art to the united states army. they weren't returned to italy, the words to be given over to the british but given to the american forces. in the ensuing two months, deane keller and fred hard struggled to work on getting these works of art created and moved to trains and get them back to florence. that sounds not as difficult as it was because at this point in the war the shortages were severe, finding would was difficult, finding laborers to build these things, finding food for the laborers was quite a challenge, all the bridges north of florence had been blown up the other by allied forces trying to prevent the not seize from escaping or nazi forces as they move north, trying to

impede the allies's advance so many bridges had to be rebuilt and it was the first train to be back in operation to get these works of art back to florence and they arrived in late july of 1945. this railyard, you see pogee with the panama hat and deane keller holding up the works of art he supervised packing up and fred hartt signing of this inventory schedule formally transferring responsibility for the works of art back to pogee. he had to fill out a way of bill before they were departed and he put down that they were valued at $500 million. that was in $1,945. the works are arrived in florence the following day to a joyous celebration and ceremony by local officials including the mayor, the civil affairs

section. and they traveled the same path adolf hitler and benito mussolini had traveled seven years earlier when hitler's first visit when he stood there on the balcony sharing his vision for this thousand year reich. deane keller and the other monuments officers' will be remembered for their remarkable work saving those works of art from florence but i think they're great legacy is the preservation of important buildings that are there that we visit today some of which are still under repair and there is no better example than this ancient cemetery of florence built in 1276. it housed the great leaders of pisa. at one point the towering party over its nearby rival in florence. today most people go to pisa to see the leaning tower but before the war 90% of people that

visited pisa did said to see the campo santo because in the cemetery were 20,000 square feet of frescos, 3,000 more square feet than the painted surface of the sistine chapel. the photograph you are seeing now shows the campo santo though the roof that was there is gone. during combat an artillery round landed short and ignited the roof. the roof was made of lead. the lead melted and bled down the sides of the wall blistering these frescos leaving this tragic situation of millions and millions of fragments of frescoes that had fallen off the wall. you can still see some attached blistered that had been based by the tuscan as gun over months that it took to get german forces out of pisa before deane keller could arrive.

deane keller having known and understood the importance of the campos and so having been student in italy reacted immediately. he contacted senior military leaders and said if ever there was a moment for the monuments and archive section and monuments officers' to prove their worth, this is it. i need engineers, i need fresco restores from florence, i need food to feed them, have to have housing made available. we need people and we need it now. his commanders responded immediately. these workers can, brought these wheelbarrows and shovels and began picking up these pieces. this is the paintings in the nineteenth century of one portion of the campo santo. this is what it looks like by the time deane keller arrived. you see this symbol of mandela that was painted and severely blistered.

deane keller's great concern knowing the weather in florence and having been in italy so often was what would happen when the fall rains came and washed off what remained on the walls, eliminated any possibility -- army engineers constructed this innovative design to try to deflect rainwater away from the walls and allow time for a permanent roof to be built. deane keller died in 1992 but not before having visited pisa with his son dino in 1965 some 21 years later after first arriving in pisa and this boy who he sent these drawings to from his arrival in pisa and engineering drawings celebrating the absences of christmas worked for eight years with italian officials to make it possible for his father's remains to be buried in the one place he was

convinced they should be buried with was the campo santo so this is the tomb so where his remains are. for those who visit pisa you can walk across the way to the laboratory where the work continues to this day gluing these pieces of frescoes-deane keller and other officers saved, hung in places some 65 years later. fred heart's contributions to saving important elements of florence was certainly no less. fred hartt and distillate cutely the history of the city and the leading role its medieval towers played. this -- if you visit florence and walk across north across the are no you will see this tower and it is there because fred

hartt negotiated and worked with army engineers who not having an appreciation for these buildings looks at them as damage and not repairable and they were interested in having remains to use the rubble for roads. there was an urgent need to clear these rose to get emergency help in but fred hartt had an understanding of the difference between buildings that damage and damaged beyond repair and those that could be repaired this being one of the men this is just one example of the work that he did including finding glass and tile to make sure at one point in time had water in it up to the angels because there were no windows or roof on portions of it. fred hartt's dedication to italy didn't end with the flow war. in 1966 during a horrific floods in november fred hartt like other monument officers traveled around the country, united

states raising money to make available to the italians to try to help this disaster situation to begin repairs of works of art, this is something that last a lifetime, many of the other monuments officers' and apropos, being fred hartt's companion of 30 years, similarly labored with foreign officials to make sure fred had a chance to be buried in the church that he loved so much, overlooking the city, and in the course of my work over the last 17 years or so, last ten years full time i had a chance to meet 17 monuments officers', interviewed all of them and many of their family members. today there are five monuments officers' still living, one woman who is british, men and i asked each of them one question,

is part worth a life and one of our monuments officers' who is living and to the question this way. >> i remember having a discussion with stewart leonard and berlin apartment one night which is of more value, a work of art or a human life? and i was saying a human being and he was a work of art. we had another drink and another drink. he said would you give your life to save the cathedral? he said sure. then he said and actually i had that choice to make, a bomb was placed around the cathedral. as a bomb disposal experts, and i was the one who had to dispose

of them. he won his argument that way. >> i was with bernie several years ago when i travel around the country which my mother is very fond of reminding me i do too much of. i always make a point of stopping in and visiting and seeing family members as frequently as i can and often ask questions, they, like the rest of us sometimes forget and think of new things and i asked bernie let me ask again is charged with a life and he looked at me and said is there something wrong with your memory? and i said no, no, but maybe you remember something you didn't tell me before. he said i told you about having a drink in a berlin apartment with stewart leonard and told you about stewart leonard telling me about the one good thing about being in the demolition squad and i said wait a minute, i filmed this thing. i know that is not in there. how could there be any such thing? he said i wanted the same thing myself. i said stuart, what in the world

could be good about being in the demolition squad? the bomb disposal squad? stewart said you never have superior officer looking over your shoulder. [laughter] >> bernie when john to tell me a little more. i remember now that stewart said it was worth it for the reward that he has received an bernie said reward? was there to give you a reward? after i got those last bombs out i was alone for an hour by myself. these are the stories we continue to gather, this very living part of this final chapter of world war ii history that is not been written, is being written today. you not only have a chance to have a front row seat to watch the history being written by you have a chance to help us write

it. deane keller had a slightly different twist of an answer on this question. i came along after he passed, didn't have a chance to ask him but in our extensive research going through his documents, i could see in essence these are things he too thought about and deane keller's view was he believed the life of no american boy was worth a single worth of art or a monument. however, he believed the life of a soldier or an american boy was worth a cause. i think that is the better way to frame this. we do risk lives for democracy, these principles that we believe in, the opportunity to be stewards to these things that have survived not by accident but because people in centuries before sacrificed and determined they should survive as the best examples of our civilization that we should have a chance to have them and pass on the responsibility to us to make

sure they are protected and fred hartt and deane keller risked their lives on numerous occasions walking through booby trapped buildings trying to protect these works of art. two monuments officers' in northern europe, a story i described in the monuments men in my last book were killed in combat. these were not. is sitting in an office somewhere, they were on the front line doing their job. they came back after the war, many of them resume their careers, some went on to bigger and better things and i dare say there is not a museum or major cultural institutions this country that doesn't have a connection with the monuments officer. i want to let you see a couple prominent people, the institutions they represented in the years that followed. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> we don't have any monuments officers' nearby that were able to make it tonight. when in fact does live not too

far from philadelphia. however we are very fortunate and it is such an honor for me to introduce to you all deane keller's other son, bill keller and his wife, judy. thank you very much. [applause] >> i recall reading a quotation by president kennedy that said a nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but the men it honors and the men it remembers and by that standard we as a country data very poor job because we don't remember, we did know this amazing remarkable legacy of our country during the most destructive conflict in history and we paid a horrible price for it in the years that followed, not having

monuments officers'. in particular in the aftermath of the moving of the national museum of iraq and baghdad in 2003, this is one of the things that i created the monument's foundations for the preservation of art to do not only to preserve the legacy of these great heroes but put it to use so we can reestablish the united states leadership in the protection of cultural treasures. one of the things we did was interview a modern-day monuments officer, 01, korean wagoner, who served, had distinguished service in the army, who went to iraq following this disastrous initial response to help try to fix things and since became a a curator in minneapolis and i asked this question about the importance of monuments officers' and here is what she had to say. >> it caused a lot of anger, not just bad p.r. in iraq but bad p.r. for us throughout the world's. we have to be ever vigilant in

trying to educate our elected leaders and military on the importance of protecting cultural property during armed conflict and during world war ii it was emphasis area for commander general eisenhower, he took great measures to do that not just because it was the right thing to do but because his pull kids to help in that war. >> those of you keeping an eye on world events no of the ongoing civil war in syria, these challenges continued to this day, we see destruction of some of these extraordinary roman columns with syrian tanks driving across the, combat fire, tank fire aimed at them. recently in recent weeks this wonderful tower was destroyed, this eleventh century minaret. i believe this is a great

opportunity for us, a call to action for all americans to reemphasize to people, spread the word of what we did during world war ii with the leadership of president roosevelt and general eisenhower, this historic action by these men and women, a handful of them and i say to all people surely in a world war with no technology, no more than 40 monuments officers' ever in italy, hundred in northern europe, if we can do the job we did, we can certainly do a better job today and that is why in 2007 i did found the monuments foundation for the preservation of ours and i would like to share with you a few minutes about the initial years of our work. ♪

>> the vision and leadership of western allied leaders, in particular generalize in our, made the protection of artistic and cultural treasures a priority and the return of stolen property, the monument to our people who implemented and affected that policy. deron legacy is rich and filled with incredible examples of how to protect cultural treasures in armed conflict but their legacy have a cost. we as a nation paid a high price for not having preserved and utilize their legacy. time is running out. for that reason i am announcing today the creation of the monument to foundation for the preservation of art, its mission

to preserve the legacy of the unprecedented heroic work of the monument men during world war ii by raising public awareness of the importance of protecting and safeguarding civilization's most important artistic and cultural treasures from armed conflict. >> recognizing the monument men as we are doing today is very appropriate so thank you for having wisdom, culture and awareness of this very important part of preservation of the world for the future. thank you. >> the story of art and culture in democracy. we need to know that.

>> when he was interviewed, he said there is a cause greater than patriotism and the higher cost than victory. our allegiance to our troops. >> the 2007 natural humanities monument to foundation for the preservation of art for a sustained effort to identify and recognize the contribution of the soldiers of the second world war we are forever indebted to the men and women who in an era of totaled more rescued and preserve the precious portion of the world'swar rescued and preserve the precious portion of the world'srescued and preserve precious portion of the world's heritage. ♪ [applause] [inaudible] >> in addition to completing our research on these. to end women the foundation will promote and support educational programs about the monument men and their work in schools and

universities. >> most significant times, premeditated fact of things and what matters most, it -- [inaudible] -- still being located. [inaudible] >> we appeal people from everywhere to join us in celebrating of these great heroes in the most appropriate manner possible, preserve and

utilize their legacy. >> thank you for what you did, thank you for being part of this. thank you. >> again and again and again, the people of the world's, that culture, as long as they do. god bless you. god bless you. [applause] >> one of the things i am quite proud of is i served as a trustee of the national world war ii museum in new orleans, powered of their remarkable campus $160 million campus that is billed out, $160 million to go, an incredible telling of the american role in helping as they

say, help americans understand freedom is not free and learn about these men and women who sacrificed so much to make sure we had the opportunity today including monument men and the world war ii museum has so embrace this story because they would be the first place in the world to build a permanent exhibition to the monument. to win the next few years that we will recreate fault line and give people, both kids and adults the chance to experience the exhilaration, fear, remarkable journey these monuments officers' experienced during world war ii. of course marlowe was kind enough to mention my new best friend george clooney. i certainly share all of her views about this matter. it has been a wonderful opportunity working with two gifted artists and business men, george and his partner, incredibly dedicated to the telling of this story. focused on telling the story of

the monument men effort in northern europe. the answer to the question, i do hope they make a film about the story of saving italy. it is an incredible incredible experience to see the concentrated efforts they have thrown into this, this once in a lifetime, matt damon, bob taliban, bill mary, i know i have left some people out but you get the idea and it will be out in december, december 18th. i am so excited about it for one reason. the towers above all the others, this is this. it was my hope and dream this project unfolded as i invested more years of my life and did it has defined my life and provided such meaningful as that other people around world, not just in our country would have a chance to know of the story and i

believe as a result of this film there will be some billion people realm world that will never be confused anymore when they see the phrase monument men or wonder when they see destruction of cultural property, that is going to allow us to get back to that standard that i talked about because politicians are going to know that there are 1 billion voters around the world that know the story and are not going to -- are going to want to make sure we honor the great achievements of these men and women. i want to close to reestablish a perspective on things because general eisenhower after the war in june of 1945 returns to london to receive an award and made his first remarks following the end of the war at the guild hall in london and you see people standing on the facades of these buildings leaning out the windows to hear what this victorious general had to say.

true to general eisenhower, he referred the credit and gave it where it belongs. i am always reminded of that, these best moments when we run through these images and you see lots of recognition on the part of the work of the monument men foundation but it redounds to the work of a monument to. general eisenhower said this high sense of distinction, i feel, receiving this great honor is mingled with feelings of profound sadness. cumulative must be the portion of any man who received acclaim earned in blood of his followers, sacrifice of his friends. he may have given everything of his heart and mind to me to the spiritual and physical needs of his comrades. he may have written a chapter that will go forever in the pages of military history. such a man if he existed woods said the face the fact that his honor cannot hide in his memories, crosses marking the resting places of the dead. they cannot through the anguish

of the widow war the orphan whose husband or father will not return. the only attitude with which the commander may with satisfaction receive the tribute of his friends is in the humble acknowledgements that no matter how unworthy he may be his position is a symbol of great human forces that have labored arduously and successfully for a righteous cause. my righteous cause, and one i plead with you to embrace and share with your friends and every possible way is the great achievement and legacy left to us by these monument men and women. thank you very much. [[-- [applause]

>> take a drink of water. has agreed to enter a few questions and so we will give him a minute and answer a few questions from the audience. once again our mikes are ready. we have a mike here and the mike there and they will watch for your hands. one of point out people? >> i will. >> thank you for beautifully delivered presentation. i didn't see a teleprompter so you have a little better than some of the politicians. i was wondering what works, to the american image in italy, even though things are quite a mess now again, do they still remember the americans that not only save the country but also saved their culture? >> that is a good question and in fact not only in italy but

also in germany. art was there when filming was going on and there was a press conference about the book. they don't really have a press conferences in the united states because most publishers know nobody would come but in berlin there were 25 accredited media journalists for the most important magazines coming because they didn't know about monument to. italy is in the same position and they are fanatically interested because they heard me say and i say to you these are not just heroes of the war but heroes of civilization, those who travel to these museums and churches and visit them, we can't pay them a debt of gratitude that they deserve for the fact that these things are still there. as i said to people in berlin and friends in florence and rome and other cities, no beneficiary greater than germany if you go to museums islands today not only are these things that are

their works of art that monuments officers' found in caves and salt lines and castles or works that -- we gave them all back at the end of the war and this was the policy of western allies to make sure these works of art were not considered spoils of war, rather that they would be returned to the countries in which they were stalling, incredibly important inflexion points in how wars and the consequences of the war have been fought and it read the fine these cultural objects since world war ii. let us get you a microphone. we have very speedy runners with the mike so you won't have to wait long. >> what is next for you? >> let's see. i was in kansas city to watch it snow. i had to retire in chicago, i

will see my mother who will be very healthy. i had to refer to the jet station period for a book is in excess of the amount of time she spent carrying me around. i will be traveling around the country for the next month talking about saving italy, sharing these stories and having a chance to see bill and judy keller and other monuments the monuments officers' are living and i always say kids my age and these are important opportunities because i get information from you all. the monuments men foundation can't find all the missing works of art, no organization can and despite all the wealth of bill gates and warren buffett and others there are not enough detectives in the world to look for these things. however, we can raise public awareness and we do that through these books saving italy now and ultimately this film where

people around world realized there are hundreds of thousands of things missing from world war ii ended they were portable than they are probably out there now. this is a chance for people to participate, call to action number 2, all you young people out there across the country able to reach them today thankfully because of having all authors favored television stations in the world, c-span with us today, this is it. you want to be involved in something bigger than you, get out here and let's put the world back the way it was a and use your technology skills to help us find ways to protect the cultural treasures that are under fire a round world today. there are ways. i am not smart enough to know how to do it but i can certainly speak to the opportunities for us to establish this leadership position we once held. it is in an opportunity to use these technology skills you have got to help us find and put as

in contact with families that had veterans or displaced persons during world war ii that had things in the years to come when we lose the rest of our world war ii veteran, lost my dad five years ago, things better hating on walls in in basements in attics, they will all have the new owner. we are at great risk for these things that may be in foreign languages, old enough to the documents, things thrown away. this is the chance to help with this tip of the iceberg we're getting ready to see this last raw of things and help them get back to the people they belong to. that is a great moment and for that reason we are spending a lot of time with work in the foundation and the film coming up, with head back to berlin when i am done with the book tour here and doing whatever i am asked to do by the people

involved with that as the fall gets here but the work that focuses on the foundation, the writing of the book is something i do, the foundation of 5013 c, not-for-profit entity is out there to help people, we don't charge anybody anything. we can't do everything but we can make a difference, we can do what mother teresa said, sold under one mouth at a time. we have been involved in the return of some historically important documents to berlin, to our national archives ends we will soon be announcing another important discovery, and a return involved in the italy as it turns out. yes, sir? >> i thought he made a very important point when you set a lot of the monuments that exists today exist through the efforts of past generations which seems to imply that unless the generation today, mainly young people are aware of that, they

will not be doing that in the future but if we look at school curricula in the united states we see with an excessive emphasis on standardized tests, global history, art, global cultures, all of that is being pushed by the side. ..

>> there was so much material here. we did not have time to study what we thought we needed to study. so we are now going back. we are reevaluating how we go about packaging this material that includes the footage and some of the interviews that we have seen. i can talk about these things historically and certainly infuse them with a passion that i have. but it is not as good as hearing it from these guys. and i think that that is an important thing. it is why i believe the film is so important. i traveled six or seven months a year. i love speaking to audiences, whether on television, in person, the audiences have gotten bigger and bigger. i cannot reach everyone. that is what we went in search

of. so it was a story that was told like you were sitting where the offices are and experiencing what they are experiencing. so that includes so many critically important concepts. because that is what people come up with. there is so many people to tell you the facts and figures. that is not unimportant. but the things that move us is that these are the sacrifices, these are the tribulations of people get involved in. they decided whether they are scared or homesick or exhilarated. so i think that -- by the time we have "saving italy" out there. when people see this effort of what this does, a film coming

out that i will be focused on, this is like young audiences alike. they will go. we are not trying to educate anyone directly. a lot of people are having a great time. there is also nothing wrong with understanding heroism and sacrifice and nobility and respect. respect for other people who are going to respect these things themselves. we embark on a different world than the one in which we live at now. i believe this with the president of the united states. we will have to look at this at a different context because they are going to know what you all know about it. we are going to have military leaders and state department leaders that have a different appreciation for it. instead of seeing it as

something that they have to do, they can embrace it and say that this is something we have an opportunity to do that will engender goodwill around people throughout the world. that the united states, that sometimes we do not necessarily reflect the greatest cultural understanding. if everyone deserved a free pass for forgetting, we did not forget. that is the message that i am trying to convey today. it all begins and ends with leadership. we have young men and women. people in the military are so gifted. the orders have become from the people that are training as these officers today. but without a bottom driven effort, the opinion at some point is destined to fail. the guy at the top has to say

so. and all of you have business careers, you're getting involved in the military, the ceo of the united states is the president. i believe that's where it has to begin. that is why worked in world war ii general eisenhower received the ordinance from this issue that is important. but men and women were empowered to go out and get it done. we have people trying to do the job. we have people working above them who understand why it is important. when we have this, we are missing, in my opinion, the leader of the free world standing up and saying what president roosevelt is going to say. if it comes down to the lives of our men and women, the lives of

the men and women count tomorrow. we respect the cultural property of others and we are going to do all we can do. this is where the young people can come and most of us will never understand that this is a chance to find a way we don't have boots on the ground in places like syria, works of are like little kids that need to be taken care of. in my opinion, that is our responsibility as guardians for what happened. perhaps one more question, please. >> relating to what you just said, we have a lot of powerful institutions. are we doing enough to raise the consciousness of the subject?

>> thank you for reading about the monuments. we have institutions are not able to get people to come. this is a growing area and i venture to say that this film will draw a lot of interest for many reasons. a lot of people are going to ask about the things that i am asking about. how did so many works of art survived. they are going to leave it a surprise it has been such a great honor to be here. i thank you very much.

[applause] >> for more information, visit monumentsmenfoundation.org. >> in the early 1900, cocaine was used by a wide number of americans. it was in a number of products. now, there was concern that when black people started to use cocaine, for example "the new york times" ran an article in 1914 about this being a new southern menace. the way that it was talked about, black people being under the influence of it, it caused them to be more murderous, it caused them to rape white women

were unaffected by bullets. all of this nonsense. this was going on then, and it is going on now. although the language has been tempered. drugs are such easy scapegoats. >> professor dr. carl hart on "high price" and drug use. "after words", sunday night at 9:00 p.m. part of booktv on c-span2. what are you reading this summer? booktv wants to know. >> i am reading about the next america, that just came out in paperback. my three big books for the summer include the unwinding by george packer. i can recommend it because i'm almost through it. it is a gripping tale of the unwinding of the middle class. george packer is not in the book

at all himself. it is the unwinding of america and the middle class. people who lose jobs, whose wages have declined, what we have always expected them to do in this country and it is a very provocative and important book. i'm looking forward to rachel kirchner is the flamethrowers. what intrigues me about it is that more and more talk about how the voice in this book is really intriguing, but also relevant to those who are used to taking liberties that she takes in the book. so i can't wait to see what that

means and also i am getting around to the book called fear itself, it came out earlier this year. it is a big book and it is intellectual and political history of the new deal. this includes the prosecution of world war ii, tying the domestic and international together in a way that most scholars tend not to. also tracing the unraveling of the new deal back to its roots when it excluded african americans african-americans in order to get certain legislation passed. which set this up in the 60s and 70s when african-americans wanted to get their rights and get things that they didn't get from the new deal. so i think that is an important

book now that we have people trying to take apart the new deal coalition. >> let us know what you are reading this summer. tweet us at booktv. post on her facebook page, or send us an e-mail at booktv@c-span.org. >> are you interested in being a part of our online book club? our selection this month include sheryl sandberg on her book. she is the ceo of facebook talks about why it is difficult for women to achieve leadership roles in the united states. she talks about her career choices and you can watch her on booktv.org. post your thoughts on twitter or write on her facebook page. on june 25, join our live moderated discussion on both social media sites, facebook and twitter.

if you have an idea for next month, said her suggestion on what you would like to see via twitter, facebook, or e-mail. e-mail us at booktv.org. >> 40 reading this summer? booktv wants to know. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> let us know what you are reading this summer. post on her facebook page or send us an e-mail at booktv@c-span.org. >> mr. clarke was born in charleston in 1898. her father was a slave. she started her teaching career in 1916 in a rule school on johns island off the coast of charleston. she continued her career in urban schools in south carolina. and then in 1956 the state of south carolina forbade subversive organizations and she lost her job and her retirement.

then she developed a citizenship education program to be used during the civil rights movement. >> the life of this wonderful woman is booktv in american history tv look at history and literary life in growing, north carolina. today at noon eastern on c-span2 booktv. and tomorrow at 5:00 o'clock on american history tv. >> jaron lanier argues that digital networks are part of the future. this is an hour and 40 minutes. >> thank you so much. oh, my goodness, it is right.