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Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
John Murray (2020), Edition: 01, 320 pages
Description
Opening with the notorious bonfires of "un-German" and Jewish literature in 1933 that offered such a clear signal of Nazi intentions, Burning the Books takes us on a 3000-year journey through the destruction of knowledge and the fight against all the odds to preserve it. Richard Ovenden, director of the world-famous Bodleian Library, explains how attacks on libraries and archives have been a feature of history since ancient times but have increased in frequency and intensity during the modern era. Libraries are far more than stores of literature, through preserving the legal documents such as Magna Carta and records of citizenship, they also support the rule of law and the rights of citizens. Today, the knowledge they hold on behalf of society is under attack as never before. In this fascinating book, he explores everything from what really happened to the Great Library of Alexandria to the Windrush papers, from Donald Trump's deleting embarrassing tweets to John Murray's burning of Byron's memoirs in the name of censorship. At once a powerful history of civilisation and a manifesto for the vital importance of physical libraries in our increasingly digital age, Burning the Books is also a very human story animated by an unlikely cast of adventurers, self-taught archaeologists, poets, freedom-fighters; and, of course, librarians and the heroic lengths they will go to preserve and rescue knowledge, ensuring that civilization survives. From the rediscovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the desert, hidden from the Romans and lost for almost 2000 years to the medieval manuscript that inspired William Morris, the knowledge of the past still has so many valuable lessons to teach us and we ignore it at our peril.… (more)
Media reviews
Opening with the notorious bonfires of ‘un-German’ and Jewish literature in 1933 that offered such a clear signal of Nazi intentions, Burning the Books takes us on a 3000-year journey through the destruction of knowledge and the fight against all the odds to preserve it.
Richard Ovenden,
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director of the world-famous Bodleian Library, explains how attacks on libraries and archives have been a feature of history since ancient times but have increased in frequency and intensity during the modern era.
Libraries are far more than stores of literature, through preserving the legal documents such as Magna Carta and records of citizenship, they also support the rule of law and the rights of citizens.
Today, the knowledge they hold on behalf of society is under attack as never before.
In this fascinating book, he explores everything from what really happened to the Great Library of Alexandria to the Windrush papers, from Donald Trump’s deleting embarrassing tweets to John Murray’s burning of Byron’s memoirs in the name of censorship.
At once a powerful history of civilisation and a manifesto for the vital importance of physical libraries in our increasingly digital age, Burning the Books is also a very human story animated by an unlikely cast of adventurers, self-taught archaeologists, poets, freedom-fighters — and, of course, librarians and the heroic lengths they will go to preserve and rescue knowledge, ensuring that civilisation survives.
From the rediscovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the desert, hidden from the Romans and lost for almost 2000 years to the medieval manuscript that inspired William Morris, the knowledge of the past still has so many valuable lessons to teach us and we ignore it at our peril. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member infjsarah
I listened to the audiobook of this. Interesting overview of libraries and archives since ancient times and how they have been destroyed both accidently and deliberately. So it was often quite depressing. The author uses the final chapters to tackle the digital deluge and the power of indifference
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to destroy libraries and archives. He uses a lot of "shoulds" but sadly my cynical hat says that none of these things will happen. Short termism always wins. This should be read by those with the money but it won't be. Show Less
LibraryThing member dono421846
The title is a tad misleading: Ovenden does not lay the groundwork of how "knowledge" relates to "books" or other relevant levels, like "information" or "archives." All in all, while solid, this book does not seem to benefit from having been written by a professional librarian as opposed to an
For the record, though, I'll throw in a bit of what Ovenden omits. Libraries are at the opposite end of the spectrum from archives, because if archives are important because they are the raw data of interest (e.g., government records, personal diaries, etc.), libraries are full of the reflective works that are written drawing upon that information. It is after this "transmutation," or ingestion, that archival information becomes knowledge. Archives, therefore, contain no knowledge, but only the basis to discern knowledge. Archival records do not speak for themselves, as Ovenden appears to suggest; for their story to emerge they must be studied, collated, compiled, contextualized. The outcomes of that process is "knowledge," and these conclusions are what are found in libraries. For many purposes this is a distinction without a difference, but Ovenden throughout the text displays his primary interest in archival work (it is where he has spent his professional life, not in libraries per se), and thus gives libraries short shrift. Both are relevant and important and worthy of preservation, but arguably no good purpose is served by careless conflation of important distinctions, especially by someone heading one of the premiere university libraries.
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interested lay scholar or journalist. In that regard it disappoints. If, however, the reader is happy to do without the deep dive into just what libraries are all about (and does not really care how they are not the same as archives), the stories he relates will satisfy. For the record, though, I'll throw in a bit of what Ovenden omits. Libraries are at the opposite end of the spectrum from archives, because if archives are important because they are the raw data of interest (e.g., government records, personal diaries, etc.), libraries are full of the reflective works that are written drawing upon that information. It is after this "transmutation," or ingestion, that archival information becomes knowledge. Archives, therefore, contain no knowledge, but only the basis to discern knowledge. Archival records do not speak for themselves, as Ovenden appears to suggest; for their story to emerge they must be studied, collated, compiled, contextualized. The outcomes of that process is "knowledge," and these conclusions are what are found in libraries. For many purposes this is a distinction without a difference, but Ovenden throughout the text displays his primary interest in archival work (it is where he has spent his professional life, not in libraries per se), and thus gives libraries short shrift. Both are relevant and important and worthy of preservation, but arguably no good purpose is served by careless conflation of important distinctions, especially by someone heading one of the premiere university libraries.
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LibraryThing member CarltonC
Deeply knowledgeable and fluently written, this is an extremely engaging book about libraries as repositories of knowledge, and the destruction of libraries through declining funding, religious or political conflict.
Richard Ovenden tells a fascinating and enjoyable story, including examples from
The author then details the political destruction, or retention, of libraries in a broader sense, including records created or held by the state, such as the Stasi secret personnel records in East Germany in 1989 and the early 1990’s, political records in Iraq in 2003 and 2013, the country’s library and records in the targeted Serbian destruction of Bosnia’s national library in 1992, and the destruction or removal of colonial records when the colonies of European countries became independent mainly in the second half of the twentieth century.
Ovenden then considers the problems of retaining records now that so much is created online. This part of the book is optimistic in setting out the issues and suggesting an approach to dealing with the current shortfall in funding, especially due to austerity measures.
Highly recommended.
Richard Ovenden tells a fascinating and enjoyable story, including examples from
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history starting in Mesopotamia and Alexandria, taking us forward through medieval monastic and university libraries (including the Bodleian of which the author is the librarian), national libraries such as America’s Washington library, to personal libraries saved, or not, for posterity such as Byron’s, Kafka’s, Plath’s and Larkin’s.The author then details the political destruction, or retention, of libraries in a broader sense, including records created or held by the state, such as the Stasi secret personnel records in East Germany in 1989 and the early 1990’s, political records in Iraq in 2003 and 2013, the country’s library and records in the targeted Serbian destruction of Bosnia’s national library in 1992, and the destruction or removal of colonial records when the colonies of European countries became independent mainly in the second half of the twentieth century.
Ovenden then considers the problems of retaining records now that so much is created online. This part of the book is optimistic in setting out the issues and suggesting an approach to dealing with the current shortfall in funding, especially due to austerity measures.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member fastred
Attacks on knowledge, its importance or even relevance are increasingly notable. Such attacks have a long history, and this book explores that history, and its continuing relevance.
LibraryThing member Tom.Wilson
This book is essentially a global history of the library. Librarians in training should be prescribed this book in their studies to give them a grounding in the long history of preserving knowledge. From the sands of the Middle East to the port of Alexandria, to the monasteries of north-western
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Europe, and forwards to today, Ovenden moves at a brisk pace in recounting the long history of preserving knowledge from the deluge. Read it and feel a renewed sense of wonder and appreciation for the institution of the library in your life. In the age of distraction by digital flotsam and jetsam such a historical grounding, and renewed understanding of the importance of libraries, is needed more than ever before. Show Less
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2020
2021-10-10 (deutsch)
Physical description
9.13 inches
ISBN
1529378761 / 9781529378764