Intriguing account of the Russian "Amber Room", originally built by Prussian king Frederick 1, and given to the Russia's Peter the Great in 1717. The room (wallboards decorated with sheets of amber) was lost during WWII after it had been captured by German soldiers overruning Leningrad and removed to Konigsburg Castle.

This popular history is told in the form of an unfolding political thriller, the most interesting aspect of which is the still-intense feeling about the loss and reparation of historical national cultural treasures during the war.

After leading the reader through the labyrinth of the bureaucracies of national cultural and political archives in Russia and the former East Germany, and documenting the extant theories of where the Amber Room remains hidden, the authors conclude that in fact the room was destroyed by fires set by looting Soviet soldiers when Koningsburg was recaptured in 1944. Even this deflating conclusion proves interesting given the Cold War politics still surrounding the issue.

After a good start, the authors get hopefulliy lost in trying to maintain some thread of their investigation with so many tangents and contradictions that it because a real exercise in self-punishment. They come to no concrete conclusions and keep repeating speculations. There is a cast of thousands in this book and many key persons are continually recast as though each retelling or hearsay evidence changes the truth. The truth is hard to see in this work, and you will find yourself skipping over details that only the authors could somehow find fascinating. I think they were paid by the word.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book because I am interested in art history, the political history of WWII and the Cold War, and mysteries. I did feel, however, that the the authors could have trusted us to remember people and events a bit more than they did. There was a fair amount of restatement and reintroduction. The speculative conclusion they arrive at seems reasonable. The authors display a keen understanding of human nature and the possible motives leading to the disinformation campaign surrounding the fate of the Amber Room.

I loved this book. It is a good example of good research, good journalism and great writing. Must Read for all History Buff.

The question titling this review is the one a potential reader needs to ask prior to choosing this book. The story of this astonishing work of art, gifted by Frederick I to Peter the Great, has been the basis for many books both scholarly and purely fictional. While this book is non-fiction it is not one I would recommend to anyone that is unfamiliar with this topic. The room that is the title of this book can be viewed online as it has been reconstructed, and once seen the viewer has a right to expect a written history of this fantastic creation that both approaches the unique beauty of the art itself and the incredible journey the room may have taken.

The mystery/history of the real Amber Room has all the makings of the most remarkable of fictional thrillers, and while the authors present a sturdy, competent narrative, the book never gets very interesting. The prose is dull and does as much of a disservice to the true tale that black and white photographs do to the real Amber Room.

The book also suffers from a constant handicap of; wishing for something just does not make it so, every attempt at breathless suspense reads as labored, contrived and often very predictable. If you have never read about this topic search elsewhere as the subject is fascinating, if you are already a reader of books on this tale again you should look further before adding this to your reading list.