An account of the fate of Europe's great works of art in the Third Reich and the Second World War. Nicholas traces the Third Reich's war on European culture and the Allies' desperate attempts to preserve it. Covering the Nazi purges of 'degenerate' art, Goerings's shopping sprees in occupied Paris, and the reclamation of the priceless treasures of liberated Italy, "The Rape of Europa" is a gripping narrative peopled with such figures as Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goering, Gertrude Stein, and Marc Chagall. Ninety b&w illustrations and photographs.