A best-seller in Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil: the first-ever world history of the destruction of books.
A product of ten ye... read full description
A product of ten ye... read full description
reviews
Oct 13, 2008
Ed
rated it: 
¡Oh la humanidad! Una qué tapicería de la pérdida y preservación, prevención y curación. Magnífico.
You know, the title pretty much says it all. And it's chronological, so you start way back when, in the days when "books" were cuneiform on mud tablets. Many of those survived centuries before being destroyed at last. So it seems rather remote, I mean, who wouldn't have wanted to visit the fabled library at Alexandria? And the book is written in small sections, so you move alo More...
You know, the title pretty much says it all. And it's chronological, so you start way back when, in the days when "books" were cuneiform on mud tablets. Many of those survived centuries before being destroyed at last. So it seems rather remote, I mean, who wouldn't have wanted to visit the fabled library at Alexandria? And the book is written in small sections, so you move alo More...
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Feb 04, 2012
Sometime in between raping the women and knocking over statues of the old gods, conquerors and new regimes generally decide to burn libraries. This is a profoundly depressing survey of the regular occurring instances of this, with additional chapters on horrible losses due to electrical fires and individual arson, infestations of mold and bugs, censorship, as byproducts of bombing and other fighting, as well as one on the fictional appearances of library-cide (none of which are actually as awfu
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May 05, 2009
Kathryn
rated it: 
When the author was a poor boy of four or five, he began spending whole days (under supervision) in his town’s library in Venezuela; he happily read his way through the books for several years until the river flooded and took out the library. Later, when he was seventeen, he watched his classmates burn their books at the end of the school year. So, the author is quite sensitive to the subject of the destruction of books; and he has produced this masterly, quite depressing, work of what can (and
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Dec 07, 2008
Christina
rated it:
This is one of the saddest books I have ever read. Though the first parts are sufficiently awful, from the Library of Alexandria burning to the destruction of all Mayan literature, what made my heartbreak bitingly acute was Báez's account of much more recent events. It's easy to hate Nazis, and their Bibliocaust that preceded the Holocaust is as appalling as expected. But what really crushed me were the deliberate bombing of the Sarajevo National Library in 1992 and the complete destruction of t
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May 12, 2009
Doug
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It did not answer my question as to the known details of how Plato actually survived the millennia -- as far as I know, via the Arabs, the Abbasids in particular -- but this book is a worthy study of all that readers have lost. That said, can we say that the lost works were good, and merely because lost? No, and yet we'll never truly know the answer -- ach! Crisipus, alas.
Baez claims to have compiled three volumes of 2000 pages each listing lost works. I believe I would read that, j More...
Baez claims to have compiled three volumes of 2000 pages each listing lost works. I believe I would read that, j More...
Mar 06, 2010
Ronny
rated it:
book#11 - 2010
Tidak salah pujian Chomsky yang terkesan betul dengan buku ini dan menyebutnya sebagai "buku terbaik tentang tema ini [tema penghancuran buku:]." Riset 12 tahun Fernando Báez benar2 memukau dan tentu saja kontekstual dengan kondisi kita sendiri saat ini, dan karenanya: layak, bahkan wajib, baca. Jangan khawatir buat yang tidak bercakap Spanyol, karena edisi Inggrisnya sudah ada kok, dan saya sendiri jadi tertarik buat menerjemahkan buku ini ke bahasa Indonesia More...
Tidak salah pujian Chomsky yang terkesan betul dengan buku ini dan menyebutnya sebagai "buku terbaik tentang tema ini [tema penghancuran buku:]." Riset 12 tahun Fernando Báez benar2 memukau dan tentu saja kontekstual dengan kondisi kita sendiri saat ini, dan karenanya: layak, bahkan wajib, baca. Jangan khawatir buat yang tidak bercakap Spanyol, karena edisi Inggrisnya sudah ada kok, dan saya sendiri jadi tertarik buat menerjemahkan buku ini ke bahasa Indonesia More...
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Sep 25, 2009
Anna
rated it:
This book illuminates book destruction with wit and insight and historical perspective. The author understands the enormous implications of book burning and the destruction of libraries. We live in perilous times and this book is on time and on the mark. "Book lovers of the world unite" is the motto I'd attach. Paired with Fahenheit 451, this book reminds me there is a good reason I have more boxes of books than anything else. For those who are curious, a google search on the autho
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Apr 03, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
This is an incredible book. I think it suffers a little from translation--passages and phrases sometimes feel both lovely and awkward at the same time. But the primary purpose of the book, to give a sense of the extent, political/social context and the great loss that's accompanied book destruction since the beginning of writing is tremendous. The major flaw is that there is no mention of sub-Saharan Africa, which seems a major omission. Still, this is a book I'm planning on buying, since I
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Mar 18, 2010
A sad but telling recounting of the history of destroying books. It has been going on forever. Many ancient writers wrote many more books than they are known for now- the rest have simply vanished. Both major western religions, Christianity and Islam have been lusty book burners. Still nobody topped the Nazis. Bosnia and Iraq prove it's still happening. This volume had a copy of the photo of Holland House Library bombed during the London blitz-one of my all-time favourite photos-which I found on
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Jul 09, 2009
Jamie
rated it: 
I kind of can't believe I made it through this entire book, but now that I have, I am really glad I did. The last chapter on the destruction of Iraq's museums and libraries is wonderful, and worth skipping to if you find you just can't get through the rest of it. Extremely detailed and engrossing, this section also brings the book full circle -- some of the ancient Sumerian tablets we have today exist only because they were stored in one of the few rooms in Iraq's National Library that escaped d
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Oct 23, 2009
Justin
rated it:
Both interesting and profoundly depressing, this book is definitely a must-read for anybody who has a personal stake or professional interest in defending books and culture.
As definitively laid out in the book’s introduction, A Universal History of the Destruction of Books is not particularly meant to be read cover to cover, and is instead suggested as a "start anywhere you like" sort of read, with a foreboding parallel to the circular nature of history. Indeed, this book p More...
As definitively laid out in the book’s introduction, A Universal History of the Destruction of Books is not particularly meant to be read cover to cover, and is instead suggested as a "start anywhere you like" sort of read, with a foreboding parallel to the circular nature of history. Indeed, this book p More...
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Jan 05, 2008
Paulo A.
rated it:
An interesting, but sometimes tiresome book. It´s interesting (and a little depressing, if you´re not in the right mood)how the entire history of the civilization can be sadly told as a history of destruction and loss of books - there doesn´t seem to have existed a single historical event, relevant or irrelevant, exempt of such "side effects", and the author´s huge knowledge on the subject shows. But this is exactly where the boring part shows up: there are pages and pages with account
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Aug 09, 2011
Kaye
rated it:
This book was so depressing that I almost couldn't finish it. (As a librarian-to-be, I am a very strong bibliophile.) I think it's very illuminating to look at the ways in which books and information have been destroyed and degraded over time because it shows us just how much value the surviving texts have. Censorship and ideological warfare have caused so much destruction, and the scary thing is that this book probably only scratches the surface.
Jul 06, 2011
Chris
rated it:
At time horrifying, but overall emcompassing look at the destruction of books from man made to insects and paper itself.
While at times the book does read like a list and at times, I wished there was more, the book is very good.
Baez traces the destruction of the book starting in the ancient world. I'm talking tablets, here. He ends with the invasion of Iraq. He leaves the reader with a sense of outrage and grief for what is missing.
While at times the book does read like a list and at times, I wished there was more, the book is very good.
Baez traces the destruction of the book starting in the ancient world. I'm talking tablets, here. He ends with the invasion of Iraq. He leaves the reader with a sense of outrage and grief for what is missing.
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Apr 12, 2010
Darshan Elena
rated it:
This book offers a sweeping global tale of biblioclasty (such a term!) from ancient times to the present. I was surprised and saddened to realize that some of the most determined book destroyers have been bibliophiles; those of us who understand the power of the word and written archive are the most inclined to thwart access to recorded knowledge. The more thought I give it, the less surprising that is.
Oct 28, 2010
Pan
rated it:
Very interesting and very, very sad. It can get a little old after a while, too, because it's pretty much the same story over and over: some guy/people were cool and collected/copied lots of important books, then some group of jerks comes along and burns them. Again and again. For thousands of years. And it's still happening!
3 stars because while it is interesting, and does work to angry up the blood, it gets a bit dry and repetitive.
3 stars because while it is interesting, and does work to angry up the blood, it gets a bit dry and repetitive.
Aug 26, 2009
Nate
rated it:
Very interesting read on a topic that probably deserves a more attention. The couple of problems I had with it were mostly form based. There were definitely some anecdotes and other mentions that I wish had been better documented with the end notes so I could further investigate. Also you may or may not agree with word "Universal" in the title. Presumption. I guess it makes the title catchier, but c'mon.
Anyway, on the whole satisfying and fascinating. God the Nazis were bas More...
Anyway, on the whole satisfying and fascinating. God the Nazis were bas More...
May 03, 2009
Christan
rated it:
It gets five stars because of the sheer impressive amount of research and scholarship that went into it. Books epitomize ideas, and are therefore doomed to destruction by the ignorant and foolish. It's quite telling that the burning of books is as old as recorded history itself.
Feb 12, 2009
Fletcher
rated it: 
Fernando Baez opened the book so well with a moving essay discussing why people have destroyed books through out history. Unfortunately, what followed was 250 pages of vignettes listing what those destructions, arranged without theme or order beyond chronology.
Jun 09, 2009
David
rated it:
Quatrocentas e tal páginas que nos levam de uma grande estupefacção a uma estupefacção ainda maior.
Desde as tabuinhas sumérias à guerra do Iraque, uma imensa enumeração de catástrofes irremediáveis: ir-re-me-di-á-veis.
12 anos de trabalho, 30 páginas de notas, 40 páginas de referências biliográficas; um monumento.
Estou abismado com a quantidade de vezes que, ao longo da história, o Homem teve de começar tudo de novo e de como poderia "isto", hoje, ser More...
Desde as tabuinhas sumérias à guerra do Iraque, uma imensa enumeração de catástrofes irremediáveis: ir-re-me-di-á-veis.
12 anos de trabalho, 30 páginas de notas, 40 páginas de referências biliográficas; um monumento.
Estou abismado com a quantidade de vezes que, ao longo da história, o Homem teve de começar tudo de novo e de como poderia "isto", hoje, ser More...
Mar 24, 2009
Jaime
rated it:
The topic material and way it was written was pretty dry until I got to the part about the Balkans and Iraq.
The book shape itself, though, I loved. This beautiful thick petite square that I just wanted to hold in my hand.
The book shape itself, though, I loved. This beautiful thick petite square that I just wanted to hold in my hand.
Dec 16, 2008
While I was intrigued by the subject matter, I could not get through the introduction. It was like I was in college reading a textbook. I'm sure I could handle it, but I would have to be in the right frame of mind. Perhaps later.
Jun 09, 2009
Heather
rated it:
a good intro/summary. not just nazi book burnings and harry potter censorship. Surprised to learn that it is usually the most educated who censor/destory books, and not the ignorant. must read for a bibliophile
Jan 04, 2011
Chris
rated it:
Fascinating concept, almost like something plucked out of Borges and made real. The book itself is pretty good, a little survey-ish, but god, what good live up to that title?
Sep 23, 2010
A Universal History of the Destruction of Books: From Ancient Sumer to Modern-day Iraq by Fernando Baez (2008)
Nov 20, 2010
Annette
rated it:
An interesting premise but not a very well-handled delivery. I wonder if a better translation would have aided?
Mar 21, 2011
Lynette
rated it:
Perfect book for me - full of a myriad of interesting historical facts while simultaneously tracing the human paradox of the love of learning paired with a seemingly incurable need to eventually destroy everything we create. Made me sad to a degree, as I learned just how much we've lost over time. Still, very highly recommended.
Jan 04, 2009
Angel
rated it:
The book was interesting, but it was a bit tiresome and depressing at times. You are looking at humanity's history pretty much by the many books (and scrolls and manuscripts) that have been lost or destroyed from natural disasters to man's intentional destruction. It is written in short sections, which makes it easy to read, but the prose is a little on the dry side (which is why I gave it two stars; it just did not draw me in). If you are interested in books, it is worth a look, but it is a slo
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Dec 06, 2008
Alicia
rated it:
This is a book not so much written as listed, with topics that range from early cuneiform, South American revolutions, and the many types of insects that feed on books and book materials. It may well be one of the most important books published in this lifetime, and has the most jaw-dropping bibliography in recent memory. There is one incredibly difficult chapter at the beginning, and any of the others could easily be a jumping-off point to a fascinating study in its own right. Absolutely stunni
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