A fascinating tour of the past as it exists today, and of the dangers that threaten it, through incisive portraits of our attempts to maintain it:...
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reviews
Jul 20, 2009
Jeanne
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I highly recommend this book if you're interested in archeology, art, cultural memory or in technology and the way it affects preservation efforts of all kinds. Highly readable the book contains essays on the rebuilding of the library in Alexandria, one priests efforts to preserve Latin in the Vatican, saving the Ganges from environmental disaster and more. The best thing about this book is that it outlines the paradoxes present in trying to "preserve" the past. In the section on the S
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Feb 24, 2011
RUSA
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This was one of the 2003 RUSA Notable Books winners. For the complete list, go to http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/a...
Aug 17, 2011
Patty
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Brilliant. The last chapter on the end of reading and the future of technology is compelling.
Jul 26, 2011
Altonmann
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Strong recommend for this collection of in depth pieces examining various aspects of our past (languages, cultures, architectural treasures, animal species, documents etc.)which are threatened in one fashion or another by modern life. Carefully researched and beautifully written.
Mar 02, 2008
Colin
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Excellent book about the loss of historical education in the modern world. The chapter on Father Reginald Foster ("Living with a Dead Language") is especially inspiring.
Apr 05, 2010
Tim
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They're mostly New Yorker articles; it's a good collection of good New Yorker articles.
Oct 26, 2008
Nick
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Some really interesting thoughts on how our perception of the past is changing.
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