Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge

A Wolfson History Prize FinalistA New Statesman Book of the YearA Sunday Times Book of the Year“Timely and authoritative…I enjoyed it immensely.”―Philip Pullman“If you care about books, and if you believe we must all stand up to the destruction of knowledge and cultural heritage, this is a brilliant read―both powerful and prescient.”―Elif ShafakLibraries have been attacked since ancient times but they have been especially threatened in the modern era, through war as well as willful neglect. Burning the Books describes the deliberate destruction of the knowledge safeguarded in libraries from Alexandria to Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets to the torching of the Library of Congress. The director of the world-famous Bodleian Libraries, Richard Ovenden, captures the political, religious, and cultural motivations behind these acts. He also shines a light on the librarians and archivists preserving history and memory, often risking their lives in the process.More than simply repositori