The Thyssen Art Macabre [Hardcover]

David Litchfield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2006

Old August Thyssen created one of the world s greatest industrial fortunes. But his heirs would become better known for their extravagance, their divorce and inheritance battles and both the creation and sale of their art collection. This is the story of the rise and fall of the Thyssen dynasty. A story that contains few of the cardinal virtues and almost all of the deadly sins...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David R Litchfield is a writer, publisher, journalist and documentary film maker. He spent fourteen years researching this book in Germany, the USA, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Monaco, Bermuda and Spain.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 450 pages
• Publisher: Quartet Books Ltd; 1St Edition edition (July 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0704371197
• ISBN-13: 978-0704371194
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #710,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a model of a bad biography, August 14, 2009

By 

Ivor E. Zetler (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Thyssen Art Macabre (Hardcover)

The Thuyssen family saga is an interesting story. It is full of intrigue, manipulations, divorce, hugely expensive court cases etc. I was curious to read this book due to my interest in the fabulous Thuyssen-Bornemisza art collection. The story is told in a racy and gossipy fashion and makes for easy reading.

The problem is that Litchfield appears to have an immense dilike for the main subject, Heine Thuyssen-Bornemisza. A properly written biography should never be poisoned by such a intense distaste for its subject. Hopefully a decent and unbiased appraisal of this colourful family will appear in the near future.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, April 26, 2007

By 

Claude Reich (Florianopolis, Brazil and Paris, France) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Thyssen Art Macabre (Hardcover)

I was somewhat disappointed by the content of this book. I expected more information on the way the art was acquired and on the history (more than on the story) of the family. I found the text to be too anecdotical, a bit like reading Vanity Fair or Cosmopolitan (the introduction is a lengthy description of a lunch the author had with Thyssen, which does not add anything to the reader's knowledge).

Moreover, the book is sometimes one-sided and the reader ends up feeling that the late Heini Thyssen was nothing but a degenerate drunkard who knew nothing about the art he was buying and who did not care about it. I personnally find it hard to believe...

The text only becomes more substancial when tackling the ambiguous role the family played during WWII, but the initial impression spoils the rest.On the whole, a superficial book on a substancial topic.

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the pages it is written on!!, October 29, 2007

By 

Alejandro A. Zichy (Rio, Brazil) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Thyssen Art Macabre (Hardcover)

I paid Hitler, by Fritz Thyssen. Published in association with Cooperation Publishing Co., inc., New YorkI Paid HitlerI find it incredible that someone can loose his time to try so smear one of the important Dutch/German families. It is a much better reading the book "I Paid Hitler" by Fritz Thyssen who was published in 1941 during the war when Hitler had the most powerful army behind him. Then to stand up and try to warn the United States of whom Hitler really was demanded an act of courage. Courage from a hero (Iron Cross) of the First World War. This man was captured by Hitler in 1940 and was put in a concentration camp. To try to smear his family name sixty years later inventing stories about the family in order to sell a book, I leave to you reader to judge the character of such a writer?