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Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge
The director of the famed 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. Today the knowledge they safeguard faces purposeful destruction and willful neglect; deprived of funding, libraries are fighting for their very existence. Burning the Books recounts the history that brought us to this point.
Richard Ovenden describes the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria to contemporary Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets in Iraq to the destroyed immigration documents of the United Kingdom’s Windrush generation. He examines both the motivations for these acts—political, religious, and cultural—and the broader themes that shape this history. He also looks at attempts to prevent and mitigate attacks on knowledge, exploring the efforts of librarians and archivists to preserve information, often risking their own lives in the process.
More than simply repositories for knowledge, libraries and archives inspire and inform citizens. In preserving notions of statehood recorded in such historical documents as the Declaration of Independence, libraries support the state itself. By preserving records of citizenship and records of the rights of citizens as enshrined in legal documents such as the Magna Carta and the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, they support the rule of law. In Burning the Books, Ovenden takes a polemical stance on the social and political importance of the conservation and protection of knowledge, challenging governments in particular, but also society as a whole, to improve public policy and funding for these essential institutions.
Libraries and archives have been attacked since ancient times but have been especially threatened in the modern era. Today the knowledge they safeguard faces purposeful destruction and willful neglect; deprived of funding, libraries are fighting for their very existence. Burning the Books recounts the history that brought us to this point.
Richard Ovenden describes the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria to contemporary Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets in Iraq to the destroyed immigration documents of the United Kingdom’s Windrush generation. He examines both the motivations for these acts—political, religious, and cultural—and the broader themes that shape this history. He also looks at attempts to prevent and mitigate attacks on knowledge, exploring the efforts of librarians and archivists to preserve information, often risking their own lives in the process.
More than simply repositories for knowledge, libraries and archives inspire and inform citizens. In preserving notions of statehood recorded in such historical documents as the Declaration of Independence, libraries support the state itself. By preserving records of citizenship and records of the rights of citizens as enshrined in legal documents such as the Magna Carta and the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, they support the rule of law. In Burning the Books, Ovenden takes a polemical stance on the social and political importance of the conservation and protection of knowledge, challenging governments in particular, but also society as a whole, to improve public policy and funding for these essential institutions.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published September 3, 2020
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About the author
Richard Ovenden
9 books32 followersRichard Ovenden is Director of the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Balliol College. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2019, is a member of the American Philosophical Society, and serves as Treasurer of the Consortium of European Research Libraries and President of the Digital Preservation Coalition.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 288 reviews
October 12, 2020
A somewhat odd book, uneven and with a misleading title. I expected the book to be an account of book burning through the centuries and this seemed to be the case as it started with the Nazis and their destruction of knowledge. Then, not so ... How can a book with the title Burning the Books bypass Savonarola and the infamous Bonfire of Vanities? The book is really a survey of knowledge and how the destruction of knowledge tears the fabric of human history and culture. The book includes some real red-herrings. I looked forward to the burning of Milton's books in Chapter 14 because it was something I knew nothing about and had not come across in wide readings on Milton. Well no, I would not have, because it never happened. The Bodleian could not part with its copies, including a first edition from Milton, and so hid them and removed them from the catalogue, as if burnt! A considerable amount of the book is about digital archiving and its related problems as seen by Ovenden as Librarian at the Bodleian. There are some brilliant chapters (An Ark to Serve Learning, The Paper Brigade, Sarajevo Mon Amour) but the book has a dramatic title that does not fit its low-key academic tone. The book is not a literary conflagration so much as a warm treatise on why the written word must be preserved (as it must) for the future. At times I wanted to laugh: the importance of digitising all of Twitter? How Swiftian! As pointless as Beckett's main character in Rough for Radio who is trying to write down every word of his life. Unfortunately, Ovenden is always too earnest to see the nonsense of some undertakings.
July 10, 2023
Libraries are crucial for a healthy functioning society and Richard Ovenden, director of Bodleian Libraries at Oxford, is an expert on library history. Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge is a well researched book that focuses primarily on the long history of libraries and the role they play in disseminating ideas.
One of my favorite passages is that libraries deal with ideas, ambitions, discoveries and imaginings.
One of the historical book burnings included in the book occurred on May 10, 1933. Forty thousand students participated in book burning in Berlin. It was a carefully planned publicity stunt that was replicated in 90 cities that evening. Writers immediately spoke out and signaled that this was a critical warning sign. It was the forerunner of the most concerted eradication of books in history. During the Holocaust, it is estimated that over 100 million books were burned.
On August 25, 1992, Serbian forces deliberately shelled the National and University Library. They sought annihilation of the Muslim population. It took three days for the library to burn and the event didn't make the front pages of any international newspapers.
The end of the book addresses the era we live in today with digital abundance. Ovenden warns that a small number of very large companies own the digital knowledge that is being created. He calls them private superpowers focused on surveillance capitalism.
One of the most memorable quotes in the book is from John Naisbitt, "We are drowning in formation, but we are starved of knowledge."
The three star rating is because I thought the primary focus of the book would be on book banning and it was more focused on the history of libraries and the storage of records and information.
One of my favorite passages is that libraries deal with ideas, ambitions, discoveries and imaginings.
One of the historical book burnings included in the book occurred on May 10, 1933. Forty thousand students participated in book burning in Berlin. It was a carefully planned publicity stunt that was replicated in 90 cities that evening. Writers immediately spoke out and signaled that this was a critical warning sign. It was the forerunner of the most concerted eradication of books in history. During the Holocaust, it is estimated that over 100 million books were burned.
On August 25, 1992, Serbian forces deliberately shelled the National and University Library. They sought annihilation of the Muslim population. It took three days for the library to burn and the event didn't make the front pages of any international newspapers.
The end of the book addresses the era we live in today with digital abundance. Ovenden warns that a small number of very large companies own the digital knowledge that is being created. He calls them private superpowers focused on surveillance capitalism.
One of the most memorable quotes in the book is from John Naisbitt, "We are drowning in formation, but we are starved of knowledge."
The three star rating is because I thought the primary focus of the book would be on book banning and it was more focused on the history of libraries and the storage of records and information.
September 8, 2020
We often underestimate the importance of knowledge and its power. Ovenden’s book is a stark reminder focused on the history of how people seek to control or destroy knowledge.
Most chilling is the present day. Ovenden highlights, ‘Knowledge in digital form is increasingly created by a relatively small number of very large companies, which are so powerful that the future of cultural memory is under their control, most unwittingly, with consequences and implications that we are only just waking up to.’
This was BBC Radio 4’s book of the week (1 September 2020) and an abridged version is available on the BBC Sounds app.
A must read or listen.
‘We are drowning in information, but are starved of knowledge.’ John Naisbitt
Most chilling is the present day. Ovenden highlights, ‘Knowledge in digital form is increasingly created by a relatively small number of very large companies, which are so powerful that the future of cultural memory is under their control, most unwittingly, with consequences and implications that we are only just waking up to.’
This was BBC Radio 4’s book of the week (1 September 2020) and an abridged version is available on the BBC Sounds app.
A must read or listen.
‘We are drowning in information, but are starved of knowledge.’ John Naisbitt
August 18, 2021
A few months ago the author, Jeanette Winterson made quite an impact when she burned a number of copies of her books because as she said: Absolutely hated the cosy little domestic blurbs on my new covers. Turned me into wimmins fiction of the worst kind! Whether it was a genuine protest against what the publisher had done to her books or a publicity stunt it had quite an effect.
The act of burning books and destruction of libraries has always been seen as an act of violence or oppression against a particular sector of people. The act is not recent though as it has been going on over the past 3000 years. In a lot of the cases, the aim has been of the victors to eradicate the histories of the people that they have just conquered.
Sadly this is not an ancient phenomenon. And there have been many instances of this happening even in the past century. Probably the best known is the horrors that the Nazi’s inflicted on the Jewish populations. The books burnings and eradication of their common European histories began in their own country and would be similar to the places that they invaded.
In this book, Richard Ovenden takes us through several notable historical events from the war in Bosnia, the way that the Jewish communities went about saving as much of their literature as they could from those that wanted to eradicate them as well as authors such as Kafta and Byron who specifically asked for their works to be destroyed and what those responsible did to them. It is bang up to date too, considering what we have to do as a global society to keep records of the vast quantities of websites that are created all the time.
It is the duty of the present to convey the voices of the past to the ears of the future. – A Norwegian saying
I thought this was an interesting book about the way that countries and nations have sought to dominate and write history from their own perspective. Ovenden’s prose is occasionally a bit dry and academic but there are parts of this that are very readable. It is also a warning that we discard our collective histories at our peril, that these hold the key to our future.
The act of burning books and destruction of libraries has always been seen as an act of violence or oppression against a particular sector of people. The act is not recent though as it has been going on over the past 3000 years. In a lot of the cases, the aim has been of the victors to eradicate the histories of the people that they have just conquered.
Sadly this is not an ancient phenomenon. And there have been many instances of this happening even in the past century. Probably the best known is the horrors that the Nazi’s inflicted on the Jewish populations. The books burnings and eradication of their common European histories began in their own country and would be similar to the places that they invaded.
In this book, Richard Ovenden takes us through several notable historical events from the war in Bosnia, the way that the Jewish communities went about saving as much of their literature as they could from those that wanted to eradicate them as well as authors such as Kafta and Byron who specifically asked for their works to be destroyed and what those responsible did to them. It is bang up to date too, considering what we have to do as a global society to keep records of the vast quantities of websites that are created all the time.
It is the duty of the present to convey the voices of the past to the ears of the future. – A Norwegian saying
I thought this was an interesting book about the way that countries and nations have sought to dominate and write history from their own perspective. Ovenden’s prose is occasionally a bit dry and academic but there are parts of this that are very readable. It is also a warning that we discard our collective histories at our peril, that these hold the key to our future.
April 25, 2021
الكتاي محزن لكنه جميل جدا في طرحه لقضية اتلاف الكتب عبر العصور.
استقصى الحزيمي أسباب إتلاف الكتب، ورأى أنها ترجع إلى ستة أسباب: شرعية، وعلمية، وسياسية، واجتماعية قبلية، ونفسية، وتعصبية، وأورد أمثلة على كل سبب منها. ويقول السعيد إن أبرز أسباب إتلاف الكتب شعور مؤلفيها "بالإحباط من مجتمعاتهم التي تجاهلتهم وربما حاربتهم ولم تمنحهم ما يستحقون من التقدير المعنوي والمادي.
أما طرق إتلاف الكتب فقد تعددت كما يذكر الحزيمي؛ بالحرق، والدفن، وبالإغراق والغسل بالماء، والتقطيع والتخريق
يعرض الكتاب أمثلة من محرقي الكتب على مر العصور، وكم من ثقافات وحضارات وعلوم انتهت لفعل هذا العمل الشنيع
الكتاب رائع!
استقصى الحزيمي أسباب إتلاف الكتب، ورأى أنها ترجع إلى ستة أسباب: شرعية، وعلمية، وسياسية، واجتماعية قبلية، ونفسية، وتعصبية، وأورد أمثلة على كل سبب منها. ويقول السعيد إن أبرز أسباب إتلاف الكتب شعور مؤلفيها "بالإحباط من مجتمعاتهم التي تجاهلتهم وربما حاربتهم ولم تمنحهم ما يستحقون من التقدير المعنوي والمادي.
أما طرق إتلاف الكتب فقد تعددت كما يذكر الحزيمي؛ بالحرق، والدفن، وبالإغراق والغسل بالماء، والتقطيع والتخريق
يعرض الكتاب أمثلة من محرقي الكتب على مر العصور، وكم من ثقافات وحضارات وعلوم انتهت لفعل هذا العمل الشنيع
الكتاب رائع!
January 15, 2021
The title “Burning the Books” is what attracted me to this book. However, it could more aptly be called a “History of Libraries”.
Unfortunately it turned out not to be quite what I expected. It is written with an academic slant.
For the most part it tells of the history of libraries dating back to the ancient Greeks as well as reminding us of the importance of preserving the written word.
The two chapters that I found most interesting were:
Chapter 6 – How to Disobey Kafka
Chapter 8 - The Paper Brigade
Chapter 13 – The Digital Deluge was mostly alarming even as we are already aware of how information is handled in the digital age.
I was most surprised at the number of writers who themselves demand that their works be destroyed after their death.
The Introduction, the Coda (Chapter 15), Acknowledgements, Picture credits, Notes, Bibliography and Index are perhaps as long as the body of the actual book and I can only imagine would be of interest to academics. I skipped all of it.
Unfortunately it turned out not to be quite what I expected. It is written with an academic slant.
For the most part it tells of the history of libraries dating back to the ancient Greeks as well as reminding us of the importance of preserving the written word.
The two chapters that I found most interesting were:
Chapter 6 – How to Disobey Kafka
Chapter 8 - The Paper Brigade
Chapter 13 – The Digital Deluge was mostly alarming even as we are already aware of how information is handled in the digital age.
I was most surprised at the number of writers who themselves demand that their works be destroyed after their death.
The Introduction, the Coda (Chapter 15), Acknowledgements, Picture credits, Notes, Bibliography and Index are perhaps as long as the body of the actual book and I can only imagine would be of interest to academics. I skipped all of it.
wish-list
September 3, 2020
If things go truly tits-up in November, what books do you think they will put on the pyre first? Leave you choice in the commebnt section, ta!
September 11, 2020
I have given 5 stars not so much for the writing quality, which is fine in itself, but for the subject matter. In this digital world it is so easy to forget about the retention of information/knowledge and how this actions gives power for now and for future views on history. Glad someone is writing about this subject and considering past and future impacts.
January 16, 2022
Zu diesem Buch muss ich etwas schreiben. Es gehört zu den Büchern, da kann ein Review so umfangreich werden, dass man daraus schon wieder eine eigenes Buch machen könnte. Richard Ovenden ist Oberster Bibliothekar der Bodleian Library an der Universität von Oxford, einer der berühmtesten Sammlungen von Büchern und Dokumenten in der Welt. Deswegen erfahren die Leser so viel auch über sie. Aber durch seine Position hat Ovenden auch einen sehr guten Einblick und auch Überblick über die Situation der Bibliotheken und Archive heutzutage. Er mahnt in Zeiten des "Überwachungskapitalismus" an, dass die vielen digitalen Daten auch Zeitzeugnisse sind, die im öffentlichen Interesse archiviert werden sollen, dass man dafür gesetzliche Grundlagen schaffen muss. Natürlich dass Archive und Bibliothekaren, die heute schon überwiegend hybrid also sowohl physiche wie auch digitalie Informationsträger bereithalten, in Zeiten wichtig sind, um es den Menschen zu ermöglichen, zwischen wahr und falsch zu unterscheiden. Doch auch die Archive und Bibliotheken sind in unserer Zeit bedroht durch Unterfinanzierung und Vernachlässigung.
Am Anfang des Buches stehen die Archive von Assur und Ninive, die von der lange vergessenen Kultur der Assyrer künden. Ihre Entdeckung im 19. Jahrhundert stand am Anfang der Erforschung der Archive und Bibliotheken der Antike.
Die Bibliothek von Alexandria darf hier natürlich nicht fehlen. Ihr Niedergang, die Brände waren nur dramatische Höhepunkte einer Entwicklung, steht bildhaft für den Verlust von Wissen. Ein Teil der Literatur überlebte in arabischen, jüdischen und Klosterbibliotheken. Im Mittelalter bildete sich in Europa ein Buchbestand heraus, der zwar religiös geprägt war, aber auch aus Gelehrsamkeit und Interesse die antiken Schriften mittradierte, auf zum Teil sehr verschlungenen Wegen. Doch dann kam die Reformation. Das war für das Wissen eine Katastrophe, denn besonders in England führte die Auflösung der Klöster zur Vernichtung von ungezählten Büchern. Ich will nicht wissen, wieviel antike Literatur dieser Zäsur zum Opfer fiel. Als Reaktion auf diesen Verlust wurde die Bodleian Library gegründet, von einer einzelnen Person, deren Engagement und Weitsicht vorbildhaft war. Es zeigt sich, dass die Zerstörung von Bibliotheken und Archiven auch immer politisch gewollt war. Ovenden versteht "politisch" auch in der Hinsicht, dass Privatpersonen gezielt Dokumente ihres Lebens und Wirken vernichten, um eben damit auch das Bild von sich selbst in der Nachwelt zu beeinflussen. Aber die Rettung dieser Nachlässe ist natürlich ein sehr wichtiger Akt. Das Beispiel Franz Kafka ist natürlich das prominenteste und wird in diesem Buch auch ausführlich geschildert. Bei all den Versuchen, Wissen zu zerstören gibt es aber auch Menschen, die sich dagegen stemmen, und Dokumente aller Art auch unter Lebensgefahr retten. Etwa während des zweiten Weltkrieges osteuropäische Juden, die ihr jiddisches Überlieferungsgut, das schon in einigen Archiven, Museen und Bibliotheken gesammelt war, vor den Nazis versteckten.
Ich habe das Buch mit großer Aufmerksamkeit gelesen. Die Materie wurde für mich nur im Kapitel "Digitale Flut" etwas zäh. Ich mochte die Anekdoten und Szenen, die mitunter schlaglichtartige Einblicke verschaften. Ovendens Erzählweise schreibt auch aus einer persönlichen Sicht, aber das hat zur Lesbarkeit und Informatikon auch beigetragen. Er wird so zum Zeitzeugen, der seinen Überlegungen eine weitere autobiographische Dimension gibt und sie veranschaulicht.
Am Anfang des Buches stehen die Archive von Assur und Ninive, die von der lange vergessenen Kultur der Assyrer künden. Ihre Entdeckung im 19. Jahrhundert stand am Anfang der Erforschung der Archive und Bibliotheken der Antike.
Die Bibliothek von Alexandria darf hier natürlich nicht fehlen. Ihr Niedergang, die Brände waren nur dramatische Höhepunkte einer Entwicklung, steht bildhaft für den Verlust von Wissen. Ein Teil der Literatur überlebte in arabischen, jüdischen und Klosterbibliotheken. Im Mittelalter bildete sich in Europa ein Buchbestand heraus, der zwar religiös geprägt war, aber auch aus Gelehrsamkeit und Interesse die antiken Schriften mittradierte, auf zum Teil sehr verschlungenen Wegen. Doch dann kam die Reformation. Das war für das Wissen eine Katastrophe, denn besonders in England führte die Auflösung der Klöster zur Vernichtung von ungezählten Büchern. Ich will nicht wissen, wieviel antike Literatur dieser Zäsur zum Opfer fiel. Als Reaktion auf diesen Verlust wurde die Bodleian Library gegründet, von einer einzelnen Person, deren Engagement und Weitsicht vorbildhaft war. Es zeigt sich, dass die Zerstörung von Bibliotheken und Archiven auch immer politisch gewollt war. Ovenden versteht "politisch" auch in der Hinsicht, dass Privatpersonen gezielt Dokumente ihres Lebens und Wirken vernichten, um eben damit auch das Bild von sich selbst in der Nachwelt zu beeinflussen. Aber die Rettung dieser Nachlässe ist natürlich ein sehr wichtiger Akt. Das Beispiel Franz Kafka ist natürlich das prominenteste und wird in diesem Buch auch ausführlich geschildert. Bei all den Versuchen, Wissen zu zerstören gibt es aber auch Menschen, die sich dagegen stemmen, und Dokumente aller Art auch unter Lebensgefahr retten. Etwa während des zweiten Weltkrieges osteuropäische Juden, die ihr jiddisches Überlieferungsgut, das schon in einigen Archiven, Museen und Bibliotheken gesammelt war, vor den Nazis versteckten.
Ich habe das Buch mit großer Aufmerksamkeit gelesen. Die Materie wurde für mich nur im Kapitel "Digitale Flut" etwas zäh. Ich mochte die Anekdoten und Szenen, die mitunter schlaglichtartige Einblicke verschaften. Ovendens Erzählweise schreibt auch aus einer persönlichen Sicht, aber das hat zur Lesbarkeit und Informatikon auch beigetragen. Er wird so zum Zeitzeugen, der seinen Überlegungen eine weitere autobiographische Dimension gibt und sie veranschaulicht.
September 22, 2020
An enjoyable, thought-provoking defence of libraries and archives. My proper review is here: https://patricksherriff.com/2020/09/2...
November 29, 2021
Professor Richard Ovenden is a scholar, and at Oxford University he is the British Librarian in charge of the Bodleian Libraries. His appreciation of libraries and archives and those who create, maintain and protect them is evident in this book. When certain individuals or groups of people vociferously disagree with what someone else has written and do not want anyone else to be able to read those ideas, that is when purposeful destruction of books and libraries takes place. For dictatorial individuals censorship is insufficient, only attempts at complete obliteration will do. The book opens with a 20th century event in Berlin, May 10, 1933 when Nazis conducted a purging of materials. University students in over 30 university towns burned over 250,000 books. Censorship is usually focused on four key subject areas: politics, religion, social concepts and sex. Beyond censorship, destruction of the written word can take other forms: writers who do not want their incomplete manuscripts read or published after they are dead; destruction of personal correspondence; benign neglect of libraries that are not physically maintained; complacency and lack of funding; variations on what is read and seen, such as the "alternative facts" in 2017 suggested by Kellyanne Conway, US Counselor to President Trump. There can be too much "information" which is what we are currently experiencing, or the "digital deluge." Professor Ovenden points out the invaluable services that public libraries provide, which is the free dissemination of information provided to all people within a community and/or a country. He states, "Storehouses of knowledge have been at the heart of the development of societies from their inception. Firstly, libraries and archives collect, organize and preserve knowledge."
We are presented with an overview of major historical events in the history of libraries and freedom of expression. The book is not intended as a complete history, but gives readers a compelling overview and commentary of how knowledge of the world has survived and been passed down. There is a lengthy 27-page bibliography that will give curious readers more resources. The existence of libraries goes back thousands of years, and the written word existed in conjunction with the oral tradition. This history begins in an unlikely place and time, when Xenophon (c. 430 – 354 BC) the Greek general and historian, in his Anabasis or The Persian Expedition, writes about seeing the remains of the cities of Nimur and Ninveveh, where he saw large mounds. Deep in those mounds was preserved the incredible library of Ashurbanipal. "It would take a further twenty-two centuries before the great library of Ashurbanipal would be discovered and the full history of the Assyrian empire." When archaeologists began analyzing the tablets they discovered early destruction of libraries caused by factors other than censorship: to a desire to enlarge an existing library in unethical ways, to rivalry, and to the ultimate destructive force--war between nations.
In his conclusion, Professor Ovenden reminds power holders about the five functions of libraries: to support the education of a society as a whole; to provide a diversity of knowledge and ideas; to support the principles of an open society; to provide " ... a fixed reference point, allowing truth and falsehood to be judged through transparency, verification, citation and reproducibility; to " ... help root societies in their cultural and historical identities through preserving the written record of those societies and cultures." As we celebrate freedom of expression during Banned Books Week, all of us could not have better reminders about what we might take for granted--the library.
Reviewed by Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & Fiction
We are presented with an overview of major historical events in the history of libraries and freedom of expression. The book is not intended as a complete history, but gives readers a compelling overview and commentary of how knowledge of the world has survived and been passed down. There is a lengthy 27-page bibliography that will give curious readers more resources. The existence of libraries goes back thousands of years, and the written word existed in conjunction with the oral tradition. This history begins in an unlikely place and time, when Xenophon (c. 430 – 354 BC) the Greek general and historian, in his Anabasis or The Persian Expedition, writes about seeing the remains of the cities of Nimur and Ninveveh, where he saw large mounds. Deep in those mounds was preserved the incredible library of Ashurbanipal. "It would take a further twenty-two centuries before the great library of Ashurbanipal would be discovered and the full history of the Assyrian empire." When archaeologists began analyzing the tablets they discovered early destruction of libraries caused by factors other than censorship: to a desire to enlarge an existing library in unethical ways, to rivalry, and to the ultimate destructive force--war between nations.
In his conclusion, Professor Ovenden reminds power holders about the five functions of libraries: to support the education of a society as a whole; to provide a diversity of knowledge and ideas; to support the principles of an open society; to provide " ... a fixed reference point, allowing truth and falsehood to be judged through transparency, verification, citation and reproducibility; to " ... help root societies in their cultural and historical identities through preserving the written record of those societies and cultures." As we celebrate freedom of expression during Banned Books Week, all of us could not have better reminders about what we might take for granted--the library.
Reviewed by Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & Fiction
January 12, 2022
Es bueno el libro, tampoco es algo muy excelente, es interesante claro, pero creo en varios capítulos contextualiza mucho o se pierde el hilo conductor de lo que se está hablando, al principio le iba a poner 3 estrellas, pero los últimos capítulos me hicieron cambiar de parecer.
El primer capítulo nos remonta a la lejana Mesopotamia, para demostrar que el instinto del ser humano de guardar archivos lleva milenios, quien tiene conocimiento, tiene poder y eso lo sabían los reyes de los reinos del próximo Oriente, las tablillas de la biblioteca de Asubapinal dan cuenta de cómo esos primitivos estados necesitaban registrar cosas políticas, económicas y culturales. Posteriormente a esto, nos trasladamos a la biblioteca de Alejandría, que la misma está envuelta en un aura de muchos mitos, hay cosas que se conocen y otras que no tanto, lo claro es que su destrucción nos enseña que es importante la inversión y gestión por parte de la autoridades a las bibliotecas.
En los capítulos siguientes capítulo los temas giran en torno a las bibliotecas y archivos de Inglaterra, y como los mismos fueron destruidos durante la época de la reforma como consecuencia de acabar con todo rastro católico, aunque ello impulso luego la mejoría de la biblioteca de Oxford, haciendo así que el reino inglés intervenga más. Aunque estos últimos luego quemaría la biblioteca del congreso de Estados Unidos, la cual sufrió luego otro incendio.
La guerra también género que se perdieran muchos archivos, primero con la gran guerra y la destrucción de la biblioteca de la universidad de Lovaina, posteriormente el nazismo erradicaria el pasado judío, aunque sus intentos fueron infructiferos debido a que muchos se conservaron, la guerra de los Balcanes dio fin a la biblioteca de Sarajevo, las guerras en contra de Irak, por su parte, harían que Estados Unidos se haga de los archivos de este pueblo privandolos así de su pasado.
En la literatura también hay actos de destrucción, alteración o de salvedad, los libros de Kafka fueron salvados por su mejor amigo, el esposo de Silvia Plath alteró y quemo varios diarios de ella, en síntesis, en esos actos mencionados arriba hay un acto político.
Llegamos así a los capítulos que atañen a este siglo de la información, y es que en la Internet hay mucha información, muchos archivos se están digitalizando; no obstante, muchos de nuestros datos quedan en manos de privados que solo ven en nosotros un interés económico, nuestro datos pueden ser borrados o dados a otras personas; esa información de nosotros es primordial, puesto que será el insumo de futuros investigadores sociales. Muchas webs cierran haciendo necesario salvarlas.
En conclusión, esos capítulos sobre nuestra información, te pone a reflexionar que desde un chat de WhatsApp, hasta una historia en instagram es un documento importante para estudiar el siglo XXI, borrar algo o conservarlo es algo primordial.
Faltó mencionar otros lugares como la biblioteca de Bagdad o la destrucción de los documentos propios de los nativos americanos.
El primer capítulo nos remonta a la lejana Mesopotamia, para demostrar que el instinto del ser humano de guardar archivos lleva milenios, quien tiene conocimiento, tiene poder y eso lo sabían los reyes de los reinos del próximo Oriente, las tablillas de la biblioteca de Asubapinal dan cuenta de cómo esos primitivos estados necesitaban registrar cosas políticas, económicas y culturales. Posteriormente a esto, nos trasladamos a la biblioteca de Alejandría, que la misma está envuelta en un aura de muchos mitos, hay cosas que se conocen y otras que no tanto, lo claro es que su destrucción nos enseña que es importante la inversión y gestión por parte de la autoridades a las bibliotecas.
En los capítulos siguientes capítulo los temas giran en torno a las bibliotecas y archivos de Inglaterra, y como los mismos fueron destruidos durante la época de la reforma como consecuencia de acabar con todo rastro católico, aunque ello impulso luego la mejoría de la biblioteca de Oxford, haciendo así que el reino inglés intervenga más. Aunque estos últimos luego quemaría la biblioteca del congreso de Estados Unidos, la cual sufrió luego otro incendio.
La guerra también género que se perdieran muchos archivos, primero con la gran guerra y la destrucción de la biblioteca de la universidad de Lovaina, posteriormente el nazismo erradicaria el pasado judío, aunque sus intentos fueron infructiferos debido a que muchos se conservaron, la guerra de los Balcanes dio fin a la biblioteca de Sarajevo, las guerras en contra de Irak, por su parte, harían que Estados Unidos se haga de los archivos de este pueblo privandolos así de su pasado.
En la literatura también hay actos de destrucción, alteración o de salvedad, los libros de Kafka fueron salvados por su mejor amigo, el esposo de Silvia Plath alteró y quemo varios diarios de ella, en síntesis, en esos actos mencionados arriba hay un acto político.
Llegamos así a los capítulos que atañen a este siglo de la información, y es que en la Internet hay mucha información, muchos archivos se están digitalizando; no obstante, muchos de nuestros datos quedan en manos de privados que solo ven en nosotros un interés económico, nuestro datos pueden ser borrados o dados a otras personas; esa información de nosotros es primordial, puesto que será el insumo de futuros investigadores sociales. Muchas webs cierran haciendo necesario salvarlas.
En conclusión, esos capítulos sobre nuestra información, te pone a reflexionar que desde un chat de WhatsApp, hasta una historia en instagram es un documento importante para estudiar el siglo XXI, borrar algo o conservarlo es algo primordial.
Faltó mencionar otros lugares como la biblioteca de Bagdad o la destrucción de los documentos propios de los nativos americanos.
February 12, 2022
This is an excellent and very timely history of libraries and archives – specifically, ones that have been lost or destroyed. I was equally dismayed and relieved at, on the one hand, the systematic destruction of books, and the incredible attempts of librarian heroes to save them. Ovenden also has an agenda; to remind us that archiving, curating, and preserving books and archives takes work and effort, and should not be neglected. He’s also rightfully concerned with the issues posed by conserving internet data, due to its inherent fragility. My fondest childhood memories involve my local library (as do his), so I’m very glad he wrote this. It is a great achievement and a call to arms.
“As anyone who has encountered a broken web link has discovered, there can be no access without preservation.”
“Archives are different from libraries. Libraries are accumulations of knowledge, built up one book at a time, often with great strategic purpose, while archives document directly the actions and decision-making processes of institutions and administrations, even of governments.”
“The processes of selection, acquisition and cataloguing, as well as of disposal and retention, are never neutral acts.”
Fun fact corner:
“[…] in fact two libraries in ancient Alexandria, the Mouseion and the Serapeum, or the Inner and Outer Libraries. The Mouseion was a temple to the muses – nine Greek sister goddesses who presided over human creativity and knowledge, everything from history to epic poetry to astronomy – and is where we get our term ‘museum’ from.”
I love that this is a ‘Mouseion’. I know it’s probably not supposed to be pronounced like the rodent, but I’m going to anyway.
“n 1620 the Bodleian would innovate by producing a new edition of its catalogue arranged alphabetically by author – a practice that was to become standard in centuries to follow, but then a landmark in intellectual history.”
“Cromwell’s introduction in 1538 of the requirement by law that all parishes should maintain registers of christenings, marriages and burials, and the introduction of registration of land conveyances, amounted to an unprecedented period of information gathering by the state, which would herald the start of governmental monitoring of data, held eventually in the state archives.”
My boy!
“The first centralised state archive was formed in 1542 in Simancas by Emperor Charles V for the records of Spain.”
“The Magna Carta is the one that has had the most profound impact over time: we still adhere to its vital 39th clause which states that no free man should be imprisoned or dispossessed ‘save by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land’, and its 40th clause which makes illegal the selling, denying or delaying of justice. These clauses remain enshrined in English law to this day and can be found across the world, including in the American constitution, and were a key source for the UN Charter on Human Rights.”
“Founded in 1768 by the first John Murray, there would be seven men of that name who would successively run the house until 2002 when it ceased to be a private publishing enterprise and became part of the Hachette group.”
“In the 2017–18 academic year alone there were more than 40 million interactions with the Bodleian’s collections, ranging from downloads of journal articles to calling up medieval manuscripts from the stacks. The academic community in the University of Oxford reading this material (or running programmes to data-mine it) was less than 30,000 individuals.”
Gutting fact corner:
“In 1549–50, the commissioners of King Edward VI visited the university and, although we do not know the exact circumstances, by 1556 no books remained, and the university elected a group of senior officers to arrange the sale of the furniture. It has been estimated that 96.4 per cent of the original books in the university library were lost.”
“The official historian of the Library of Congress Jane Aikin tells us that British troops piled books and other flammable materials that could be found inside the building and set fire to it. Although we don’t know the exact details of what happened, the legend was taking shape.”
“Tragically, in March 1933, the Gestapo seized all the papers in her possession. Despite repeated attempts to find them, these notebooks, some thirty-five letters from Kafka to Diamant and the only copy of the text of a fourth novel, have never been found and were probably destroyed.”
“Although Germany had been a signatory to the Hague Convention of 1907, which stated in Article 27 that ‘in sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes’, the German generals remained hostile to its spirit, especially to the sense that war could be codified.”
“100 million books were destroyed during the Holocaust”
“Second Gulf War (as it has since come to be known) came at a terrible cost in human life: between 4,000 and 7,000 Iraqi civilians and 7,000 to 12,000 members of the security forces lost their lives. Fewer than two hundred British and American troops were killed.”
Hope in the dark corner:
“One of the forced labourers in the Paper Brigade’s sorting teams, the Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever, obtained a permit from the Gestapo to bring paper into the ghetto as fuel for the ovens, but instead he brought rare Hebrew and Yiddish printed books, manuscript letters by Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky and Mayim Bialik, one of the diaries of the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodor Herzl, and drawings by Marc Chagall, all of which were immediately and carefully hidden.”
“Antanas Ulpis died in 1981 before he saw his dream of the return of the Jewish books and documents to the community that had created them. He kept his secret well.”
“Riedlmayer is one of the few librarians to have faced war criminals like Milošević, Ratko Mladić and Karadžić directly, eye-to-eye, in a courtroom. Thanks to his knowledge of the libraries and archives of the region, Riedlmayer was asked to give evidence in the trial of Milošević, countering with hard facts when Milošević denied the incidents that he was accused of.”
“With the help of other citizens a women’s group, ‘Women for Change’ (in German: Frauen für Vertrauen), occupied the building and the neighbouring Stasi remand prison, where the Stasi stored files for safekeeping.”
Jonathan Franzen never mentioned THAT in Purity.
“Alexandria is a cautionary tale of the danger of creeping decline, through the underfunding, low prioritisation and general disregard for the institutions that preserve and share knowledge.”
“Libraries and archives take the long view of civilisation in a world that currently takes the short-term view. We ignore their importance at our peril.”
Yaas king.
“As anyone who has encountered a broken web link has discovered, there can be no access without preservation.”
“Archives are different from libraries. Libraries are accumulations of knowledge, built up one book at a time, often with great strategic purpose, while archives document directly the actions and decision-making processes of institutions and administrations, even of governments.”
“The processes of selection, acquisition and cataloguing, as well as of disposal and retention, are never neutral acts.”
Fun fact corner:
“[…] in fact two libraries in ancient Alexandria, the Mouseion and the Serapeum, or the Inner and Outer Libraries. The Mouseion was a temple to the muses – nine Greek sister goddesses who presided over human creativity and knowledge, everything from history to epic poetry to astronomy – and is where we get our term ‘museum’ from.”
I love that this is a ‘Mouseion’. I know it’s probably not supposed to be pronounced like the rodent, but I’m going to anyway.
“n 1620 the Bodleian would innovate by producing a new edition of its catalogue arranged alphabetically by author – a practice that was to become standard in centuries to follow, but then a landmark in intellectual history.”
“Cromwell’s introduction in 1538 of the requirement by law that all parishes should maintain registers of christenings, marriages and burials, and the introduction of registration of land conveyances, amounted to an unprecedented period of information gathering by the state, which would herald the start of governmental monitoring of data, held eventually in the state archives.”
My boy!
“The first centralised state archive was formed in 1542 in Simancas by Emperor Charles V for the records of Spain.”
“The Magna Carta is the one that has had the most profound impact over time: we still adhere to its vital 39th clause which states that no free man should be imprisoned or dispossessed ‘save by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land’, and its 40th clause which makes illegal the selling, denying or delaying of justice. These clauses remain enshrined in English law to this day and can be found across the world, including in the American constitution, and were a key source for the UN Charter on Human Rights.”
“Founded in 1768 by the first John Murray, there would be seven men of that name who would successively run the house until 2002 when it ceased to be a private publishing enterprise and became part of the Hachette group.”
“In the 2017–18 academic year alone there were more than 40 million interactions with the Bodleian’s collections, ranging from downloads of journal articles to calling up medieval manuscripts from the stacks. The academic community in the University of Oxford reading this material (or running programmes to data-mine it) was less than 30,000 individuals.”
Gutting fact corner:
“In 1549–50, the commissioners of King Edward VI visited the university and, although we do not know the exact circumstances, by 1556 no books remained, and the university elected a group of senior officers to arrange the sale of the furniture. It has been estimated that 96.4 per cent of the original books in the university library were lost.”
“The official historian of the Library of Congress Jane Aikin tells us that British troops piled books and other flammable materials that could be found inside the building and set fire to it. Although we don’t know the exact details of what happened, the legend was taking shape.”
“Tragically, in March 1933, the Gestapo seized all the papers in her possession. Despite repeated attempts to find them, these notebooks, some thirty-five letters from Kafka to Diamant and the only copy of the text of a fourth novel, have never been found and were probably destroyed.”
“Although Germany had been a signatory to the Hague Convention of 1907, which stated in Article 27 that ‘in sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes’, the German generals remained hostile to its spirit, especially to the sense that war could be codified.”
“100 million books were destroyed during the Holocaust”
“Second Gulf War (as it has since come to be known) came at a terrible cost in human life: between 4,000 and 7,000 Iraqi civilians and 7,000 to 12,000 members of the security forces lost their lives. Fewer than two hundred British and American troops were killed.”
Hope in the dark corner:
“One of the forced labourers in the Paper Brigade’s sorting teams, the Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever, obtained a permit from the Gestapo to bring paper into the ghetto as fuel for the ovens, but instead he brought rare Hebrew and Yiddish printed books, manuscript letters by Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky and Mayim Bialik, one of the diaries of the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodor Herzl, and drawings by Marc Chagall, all of which were immediately and carefully hidden.”
“Antanas Ulpis died in 1981 before he saw his dream of the return of the Jewish books and documents to the community that had created them. He kept his secret well.”
“Riedlmayer is one of the few librarians to have faced war criminals like Milošević, Ratko Mladić and Karadžić directly, eye-to-eye, in a courtroom. Thanks to his knowledge of the libraries and archives of the region, Riedlmayer was asked to give evidence in the trial of Milošević, countering with hard facts when Milošević denied the incidents that he was accused of.”
“With the help of other citizens a women’s group, ‘Women for Change’ (in German: Frauen für Vertrauen), occupied the building and the neighbouring Stasi remand prison, where the Stasi stored files for safekeeping.”
Jonathan Franzen never mentioned THAT in Purity.
“Alexandria is a cautionary tale of the danger of creeping decline, through the underfunding, low prioritisation and general disregard for the institutions that preserve and share knowledge.”
“Libraries and archives take the long view of civilisation in a world that currently takes the short-term view. We ignore their importance at our peril.”
Yaas king.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2020
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 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.
Richard Ovenden tells a fascinating and enjoyable story, including examples from 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.
July 4, 2021
الكتاب جيد في المجمل لأنه يركز على دور المكتبات و دور المحفوظات في حفظ تاريخ الإنسانية و لكن العنوان خادع لأنه يحيل على المعرفة عموما و عبر التاريخ في المجمل غير ان الكتاب يركز بشكل أساسي على فترات تاريخية محددة و لدول محددة أيضا و ترك فراغات كبيرة غير مبررة و لا تتماشى مع العنوان كما قلت: مثلا اغفاله الحديث عن المكتبات التي استبيحت بعد هجوم المغول او مكتبات الأندلس التي احرقت بعد سقوطها او مكتبات الانكا و المايا و الازتيك .
September 13, 2020
Finished my ARC in one day. An incredible book, walking us through the pages of history from the Reformation through today's Digital Age, showing us through firsthand accounts only a fraction of the known damage done, and hints at the unknown (and unknowable) amount of damage done, through the intentional destruction of knowledge. A remarkable work.
October 24, 2022
Reseña en Español | Review in English
Un recuento histórico interesante sobre el temor que han generado los libros y las bibliotecas por ser fuente de pensamiento, crítica y cuestionamiento al status quo y que los ha puesto en peligro constante a través de los siglos. Desde las antiguas bibliotecas en Mesopotamia, pasando por la biblioteca de Alejandría, los cientos de libros destruidos durante las guerras religiosas de los siglos XVI y XVII, hasta la Kristalnacht en la Alemania nazi de finales de los treinta, Ovenden repasa minuciosamente los detalles de estas grandes pérdidas, así como de muchas personas que se empeñaron en salvar los libros.
Unos capítulos que me parecieron muy interesantes fueron los dedicados a los escritores que pidieron que sus textos (incluyendo diarios y cartas) fueran destruidos después de su muerte. Para algunos sus deseos se cumplieron pero para otros, sus familiares y amigos rescataron estos textos que hoy constituyen parte del acervo literario mundial, como los escritos de Kafka y Sylvia Plath.
Ahora bien, no le doy más estrellas porque hay un tema que me incomoda cada vez más: es un libro básicamente enfocado en el Occidente europeo y en la cultura anglosajona. Mientras lo leía, pensaba: ¿en serio, ninguna biblioteca en China o Japón, en la América Latina del siglo XIX, fue digna de una mención? ¿No existen anécdotas? Y es cierto, se incluye Alejandría y algo de Europa del Este y el autor nombra de una manera muy breve a Borges, pero es todo. No quiero parecer pedante por este hecho, pero la realidad es que me estoy convirtiendo en otro tipo de lectora. En un tema tan rico como la existencia de los libros y la diversidad que aportan, me parece una omisión grave que no se incluyan otras muchas regiones del mundo.
___
An interesting essay on how books and libraries have often created discomfort to those in power by questioning, in their contents, the status quo. The book takes us to different libraries that were destroyed and whose existence is only a reference from other writers of the time, to those that were destroyed in more modern times, and with them, millions of books that were lost with them. However, the book also points out to many people, men and women, that risked their lives to try to save books often succeeding.
I found very interesting the chapters referring to those authors who had instructed to have their writings (letters and diaries included) after their death. While relatives at times complied with those wishes, some others refused to do so and hence, we are able to read and enjoy now valuable texts that provide a much deeper knowledge of those authors -for example Franz Kafka and Sylvia Plath.
Now, I can't rate it highest because there is an issue that bothers me more each time: it is a book basically focusing on Western Europe and the English speaking world. As I read it, I thought: seriously, no library in China or Japan, in 19th century Latin America, was worth mentioning? Aren't there anecdotes which are valuable enough? The author names Borges very briefly, but that's all. This bothers me personally - and the reality is that I am becoming a different type of reader. In such a complex and rich history of the book itself, I found unforgivable that there was no reference to other cultures from the world.
Un recuento histórico interesante sobre el temor que han generado los libros y las bibliotecas por ser fuente de pensamiento, crítica y cuestionamiento al status quo y que los ha puesto en peligro constante a través de los siglos. Desde las antiguas bibliotecas en Mesopotamia, pasando por la biblioteca de Alejandría, los cientos de libros destruidos durante las guerras religiosas de los siglos XVI y XVII, hasta la Kristalnacht en la Alemania nazi de finales de los treinta, Ovenden repasa minuciosamente los detalles de estas grandes pérdidas, así como de muchas personas que se empeñaron en salvar los libros.
Unos capítulos que me parecieron muy interesantes fueron los dedicados a los escritores que pidieron que sus textos (incluyendo diarios y cartas) fueran destruidos después de su muerte. Para algunos sus deseos se cumplieron pero para otros, sus familiares y amigos rescataron estos textos que hoy constituyen parte del acervo literario mundial, como los escritos de Kafka y Sylvia Plath.
Ahora bien, no le doy más estrellas porque hay un tema que me incomoda cada vez más: es un libro básicamente enfocado en el Occidente europeo y en la cultura anglosajona. Mientras lo leía, pensaba: ¿en serio, ninguna biblioteca en China o Japón, en la América Latina del siglo XIX, fue digna de una mención? ¿No existen anécdotas? Y es cierto, se incluye Alejandría y algo de Europa del Este y el autor nombra de una manera muy breve a Borges, pero es todo. No quiero parecer pedante por este hecho, pero la realidad es que me estoy convirtiendo en otro tipo de lectora. En un tema tan rico como la existencia de los libros y la diversidad que aportan, me parece una omisión grave que no se incluyan otras muchas regiones del mundo.
___
An interesting essay on how books and libraries have often created discomfort to those in power by questioning, in their contents, the status quo. The book takes us to different libraries that were destroyed and whose existence is only a reference from other writers of the time, to those that were destroyed in more modern times, and with them, millions of books that were lost with them. However, the book also points out to many people, men and women, that risked their lives to try to save books often succeeding.
I found very interesting the chapters referring to those authors who had instructed to have their writings (letters and diaries included) after their death. While relatives at times complied with those wishes, some others refused to do so and hence, we are able to read and enjoy now valuable texts that provide a much deeper knowledge of those authors -for example Franz Kafka and Sylvia Plath.
Now, I can't rate it highest because there is an issue that bothers me more each time: it is a book basically focusing on Western Europe and the English speaking world. As I read it, I thought: seriously, no library in China or Japan, in 19th century Latin America, was worth mentioning? Aren't there anecdotes which are valuable enough? The author names Borges very briefly, but that's all. This bothers me personally - and the reality is that I am becoming a different type of reader. In such a complex and rich history of the book itself, I found unforgivable that there was no reference to other cultures from the world.
March 2, 2022
Ovenden's prose is workmanlike but the information is SO important, and the overall plea for society to recognize the significance of libraries, archives, and information preservation is conveyed with obvious fervency. And I agree! Fund libraries!
A few special mentions:
- "Sarajevo Mon Amour," the chapter on the targeted destruction of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Serbian militia in 1992. It honestly brought me to tears.
- Sir Thomas Bodley, who (re)founded the Bodleian library, and disinherited his own family in order to endow it. A tip of the hat to you, sir.
- Ted Hughes. I have always felt that he was kind of the worst, and this book did not convince me otherwise. Team Sylvia Plath allllll the way.
Oh, I forgot to add one critical comment: even though the book did delve into the issues of "migrated archives" and other situations where items pertinent to a particular state or culture's selfhood are removed to a different state (possibly in perpetuity), I found Ovenden's commentary on Britain's role in this area to be unsatisfying in the extreme. As the head of the Bodleian, it is possible that he needed to choose his words with care, but avoiding that more critical lens on his own library's holdings still felt like an uncomfortable gap in the narrative, given Britain's role on the world stage as major empire builder and its known activities of appropriation.
A few special mentions:
- "Sarajevo Mon Amour," the chapter on the targeted destruction of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Serbian militia in 1992. It honestly brought me to tears.
- Sir Thomas Bodley, who (re)founded the Bodleian library, and disinherited his own family in order to endow it. A tip of the hat to you, sir.
- Ted Hughes. I have always felt that he was kind of the worst, and this book did not convince me otherwise. Team Sylvia Plath allllll the way.
Oh, I forgot to add one critical comment: even though the book did delve into the issues of "migrated archives" and other situations where items pertinent to a particular state or culture's selfhood are removed to a different state (possibly in perpetuity), I found Ovenden's commentary on Britain's role in this area to be unsatisfying in the extreme. As the head of the Bodleian, it is possible that he needed to choose his words with care, but avoiding that more critical lens on his own library's holdings still felt like an uncomfortable gap in the narrative, given Britain's role on the world stage as major empire builder and its known activities of appropriation.
October 6, 2021
قد يوحي عنوان الكتاب بأنه عن محاولات البشر لحرق الكتب عبر التاريخ، لكنه فالواقع عن تجميع المعرفة البشرية وكيف تم الحفاظ عليها ومهاجمتها عبر العصور، يبدأ التسلسل الزمني للكتاب من عند الآشوريين وكيفية تدوينهم للمعلومات وصولا لعصرنا الحديث وثورة التكنولوجيا وذلك يوفر للقارئ نظرة شاملة على الموضوع.
على سبيل المثال يستشهد الكاتب بالنازيين عندما تحولت إبادتهم لليهود من إبادة جسدية إلى إبادة ثقافية وذلك عن طريق تدمير كل ما يمت لليهود بصلة في محاولة لمحو آثار تلك الحضارة.
وذلك لأن النازيون فهموا بأن الإحتفاظ بأي أرشيف يهودي كان سيتيح الفرصة للمستقبل بأن يتذكر الماضي، وهذا ما حصل فعلا لكن الأدوار انعكست فأصبحت السجلات مليئة بجرائم النازيين ولا سبيل لإنكارها.
وقد تكون اكثر جزئية مثيرة للإهتمام هي الأخيرة والتي يتحدث فيها الكاتب عن حفظ المعلومات فالعصر الحديث وكيف أن الكثير من الشركات المُعناة بتوثيق التاريخ هي شركات خاصة ذات مصالح تجارية فبذلك تصبح ذاكرة المجتمع قابلة للإتلاف حسب الربح المُتوقع.
والجميل في الكتاب أيضا بأن الكاتب ريتشارد أوفندن يعمل كأمين مكتبة أوكسفورد فلا يخفى على القارئ شغف الكاتب بالكتب والمكتبات أثناء القراءة مما أضاف للتجربة الكثير.
على سبيل المثال يستشهد الكاتب بالنازيين عندما تحولت إبادتهم لليهود من إبادة جسدية إلى إبادة ثقافية وذلك عن طريق تدمير كل ما يمت لليهود بصلة في محاولة لمحو آثار تلك الحضارة.
وذلك لأن النازيون فهموا بأن الإحتفاظ بأي أرشيف يهودي كان سيتيح الفرصة للمستقبل بأن يتذكر الماضي، وهذا ما حصل فعلا لكن الأدوار انعكست فأصبحت السجلات مليئة بجرائم النازيين ولا سبيل لإنكارها.
وقد تكون اكثر جزئية مثيرة للإهتمام هي الأخيرة والتي يتحدث فيها الكاتب عن حفظ المعلومات فالعصر الحديث وكيف أن الكثير من الشركات المُعناة بتوثيق التاريخ هي شركات خاصة ذات مصالح تجارية فبذلك تصبح ذاكرة المجتمع قابلة للإتلاف حسب الربح المُتوقع.
والجميل في الكتاب أيضا بأن الكاتب ريتشارد أوفندن يعمل كأمين مكتبة أوكسفورد فلا يخفى على القارئ شغف الكاتب بالكتب والمكتبات أثناء القراءة مما أضاف للتجربة الكثير.
November 27, 2023
I read this one for a project for my History of Libraries and Other Cultural Institutions course for my graduate program. I don't think I could have picked a better book for this project. Ovenden shares his wealth of knowledge about the history of libraries in an accessible manner (at least in terms of academic library science texts), each chapter focuses on a different type of attempt to destroy knowledge, often weaving together multiple instances of similar attempts, while delving deep into other instances for entire chapters. It certainly helps that I am academically and professionally interested in the material covered in this book, but I enjoyed it immensely and was happy to complete a close reading of this book, often reading chapters of note multiple times.
February 18, 2024
An ardent plea for the sustainable conservation of information, the careful curation of humanity’s common repository of knowledge and yes, analogue rules! In particular liked the mini histories strewn throughout the narrative, with special mention of the post WWI rebuilding by the Americans of the library of the university of Louvain (my alma mater), only to be burned to the ground again in WWII to be once again be rebuilt brick by brick; so goes the history of the ‘twice-burned library’.
January 20, 2024
When I came across this book I was quite excited. More curious. I, in fact, was expecting more from this. However, after a few chapters the book started taking a different turn. The author, nevertheless, throughout his book emphasized the loss that was incurred upon many societies and cultures due to the destruction of books but the entire book seemed more like the 'effect' on the society post knowledge destruction rather than the destruction itself. I was actually expecting historical aspect and documentation of destruction of the libraries and archives however the author largely focused on two things, the impact and the attempt by others to save books/knowledge as much as they could. I didn't find the book that satisfactory.
Keeping this aside, I appreciate the author for his commendable job in explaining how important it is for everyone to protect their libraries and historical documentations as they play a great role in thriving of a society. To destroy library is to destroy a society and the author beautifully depicts the instances of it having happened in the history since the burning of Library of Alexandria.
A decent book..
Keeping this aside, I appreciate the author for his commendable job in explaining how important it is for everyone to protect their libraries and historical documentations as they play a great role in thriving of a society. To destroy library is to destroy a society and the author beautifully depicts the instances of it having happened in the history since the burning of Library of Alexandria.
A decent book..
January 23, 2025
i’m so glad this is over but Go Libraries
November 22, 2020
The book contains many interesting facts and tells some moving histories, but as a whole it is very underwhelming. First of all, the title could now have been more misleading -- rather than about the burning of books throughout history, the central theme of this (rather chaotic) work is the preservation of organised collections (not necessarily books). But that on its own would not be that bad had the book had some spirit in it. There is something odd about this book: no structure, no defined aim, no clear target audience? And the writing is all correct on the surface, but there's no spark, no flow, no soul.
September 17, 2021
Stopped reading after a chapter or 2. It isn't a book about censorship, it's a love letter for the importance of government for providing funds to preserve books. A little bit annoying is the smear to Republican politics of 'using false information. We could start with the weaponizing of propaganda, but I guess the author is a bit too entrenched to see the bigger picture.
Big disappointment, this might be the issue of the 21st century. I could recommend a personal, more lighthearted version of this: Don't Burn This Book (Thinking for Yourself in an Age of Unreason) by Dave Rubin. It's not a history book, but way more interesting if you're willing to listen to the libertarian worldview.
Big disappointment, this might be the issue of the 21st century. I could recommend a personal, more lighthearted version of this: Don't Burn This Book (Thinking for Yourself in an Age of Unreason) by Dave Rubin. It's not a history book, but way more interesting if you're willing to listen to the libertarian worldview.
July 4, 2021
This book is truly a love letter to libraries. I found the final chapter - concerning the creation and destruction of online data - and the coda to be the most interesting. Overall however I am left thinking that I wished I liked it more, but something about its style reminds me too much of a lecture on a subject that fascinates you that you somehow still spend most of looking at your phone.
August 23, 2021
In 'Burning the Books', Richard Ovenden looks at various events in history where knowledge, as collected and preserved in libraries and archives, has come under attack. He discuss cases of war-time destructions of libraries and archives, destruction as deliberate attacks against particular cultures, and destruction as a result of neglect. In the latter part of the book he also looks at the contemporaneous challenge of preserving digital data. The overall aim of the book is stated quite clearly: Ovenden advocates for the importance of preserving libraries and archives as repositories of history and culture and as tools for education and protecting free/critical thinking. Overall I enjoyed the book, in particular those sections where he touches upon the issue of cultural destruction in the context of war. But for my taste it remained a bit too superficial in the discussion of the meta issues the individual case histories raised.
November 6, 2021
“Libraries and archives take the long view of civilization in a world that currently takes the short-term view. We ignore their importance at our peril.” Thus ends an absolutely fantastic book; a meditation on not only on overt library and archive destruction (the latter is often ignored), but a meditation on subtle destruction and what such disappearance and decay does to society. Further, the fragility of the Internet is discussed and the key role that public memory institutions, and NOT just Silicon Valley corporations, must actively play to keep the digital world from becoming a big black hole. I am a librarian and I heartily recommend this book to all, especially information and knowledge workers.
February 22, 2025
This is definitely worth reading. It isn’t a comprehensive history but a survey, each chapter documenting a different example. Some examples are already fairly well documented and endlessly referenced in pop culture and politics. But there were several chapters that were completely unknown to me, and I think, most of the public. Interesting connections and discussions throughout. I found it absolutely fascinating.
Final note: so many people know nothing about control of information throughout history, except in the curation of the Christian Bible and book burning in Hitler’s Germany. For anyone who wants to be able to consider more than these two tired examples in conversation, this book will be a useful starting point.
Final note: so many people know nothing about control of information throughout history, except in the curation of the Christian Bible and book burning in Hitler’s Germany. For anyone who wants to be able to consider more than these two tired examples in conversation, this book will be a useful starting point.
February 10, 2024
Quemar libros: una historia de la destrucción deliberada del conocimiento es un ensayo que viaja por todas las épocas de la historia narrando alguno de los bibliocaustos más conocidos, y cómo la destrucción de la información ha servido como herramienta de poder a gobiernos y personajes públicos para manejar al sociedad a su antojo.
Uno de los casos más conocidos es el de la Biblioteca de Alejandría, a los que le siguen decenas de casos hasta las recientes quemas de libros que se hacían en plazas públicas en la Alemania Nazi o en la España franquista. Desgraciadamente, esto sigue sucediendo hoy en día, donde en muchos países se censuran libros en las bibliotecas porque van en contra de la ideología de algunos partidos políticos.
Para leer más: https://www.antiasreadings.com/2024/0...
Uno de los casos más conocidos es el de la Biblioteca de Alejandría, a los que le siguen decenas de casos hasta las recientes quemas de libros que se hacían en plazas públicas en la Alemania Nazi o en la España franquista. Desgraciadamente, esto sigue sucediendo hoy en día, donde en muchos países se censuran libros en las bibliotecas porque van en contra de la ideología de algunos partidos políticos.
Para leer más: https://www.antiasreadings.com/2024/0...
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