Goering's Man in Paris

Jonathan Petropoulos is the John V. Croul Professor of European History at Claremont McKenna College. He is a Life Member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, and a Fellow at the Royal Historical Society.

“A portrait of a charismatic and nefarious figure who tainted everyone he touched. . . . [Petropoulos] explores the tangled relationships linking Nazi dealers to scores of other participants in the art trade.”—Nina Siegal, New York Times“A book that underscores the vulnerability of France’s Jewish collectors.”—The Economist“Petropoulos has written what will surely be the definitive biography. . . . He is an enterprising, investigative historian of the kind journalists can feel a kinship with.”—Catherine Hickley, Art Newspaper“This new book brings Lohse into sharper focus, as a personality and axis point from which to explore a network of art dealers, collectors and museum curators connected to Nazi looting, both during and after the war.”—Nina Siegal, The Independent“In Göring’s Man in Paris, the author recounts his interviews of Lohse before his death in 2007 and many hours scouring archives, unpicking some of the subject’s self-serving lies. In so doing, he presents us with some enduring puzzles.”—Alexander Adams, The CriticAwarded the Coups de Coeur, sponsored by the American Library in ParisShortlisted for the 2022 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography“A manuscript of prime and serious scholarship.”—Jean-Marc Dreyfus, University of Manchester“Even in normal times, the art market can appear shadowy, even shady, and the early 1940s were not normal times. This book brings readers into the labyrinthine network of German, French, and Swiss art dealers who not only fenced goods stolen from museums and Jewish collectors in Nazi-occupied Europe, but also concealed and continued to trade in some of the loot after 1945. The result is a fascinating exploration of a netherworld where luxury and larceny met, and the perils of getting close to it.”—Peter Hayes, author of Why? Explaining the Holocaust“Jonathan Petropoulos’s meticulously researched account of one of the great (and continuing) art thefts in history reads like an Agatha Christie mystery. The degree to which the world of art collectors, gallery owners, curators, and other supposedly cultured people participated in this crime is stupefying. A compelling and maddening page turner.”—Deborah Lipstadt, author of Antisemitism: Here and Now“Göring’s Man in Paris demonstrates Petropoulos’s brilliant, indefatigable research and scholarship, compelling story-telling, and illumination of the ghastly work of Dr. Bruno Lohse. The book is vitally important for shedding a light on the network of former Nazi art dealers who continued to traffic with each other in their Nazi-looted art for decades.”—Stuart Eizenstat, former senior official in the Carter and Clinton administration and chief negotiator for the Washington principles on Nazi-confiscated art“Deeply researched, ethically informed, and enriched with keen eyewitness observations, Jonathan Petropoulos’s new book exposes the extent of Bruno Lohse’s wartime activities and details his efforts after 1945 to profit from his ill-gotten gains by reintegrating himself into the rarefied world of art dealers and collectors.”—Gavriel Rosenfeld, author of The Fourth Reich: The Specter of Nazism Since World War II