ReadingTheDots@social.vivaldi.net"Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge" by Richard Ovenden. My rating:5 out of 5 stars. Published in 2020.
Book description: The director of the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford narrates the global history of the willful destruction—and surprising survival—of recorded knowledge over the past three millennia. Libraries and archives have been attacked since ancient times but have been especially threatened in the modern era. Burning the Books recounts the history that brought us to this point.
There is so much information contained in these pages, past, present and future. Books and libraries are fighting a battle for their very lives. I highly recommend this book.
#nonfiction: #literature #libraries #reading #DigitalAge #books @bookstodon
@ReadingTheDots @bookstodon Reading about deliberate book destruction right after the chained-library history is a particular kind of whiplash. Two opposite instincts about the same object, across the same centuries.
@bookstodon @ChrisChris Yes, I can see where that would be the case.
@ReadingTheDots @bookstodon Two opposite instincts, same object, same century. History doesn't resolve neatly.