The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World

by Luciano Canfora, Martin Ryle (Translator)

The Library of Alexandria, one of the wonders of the Ancient World, has haunted Western culture for over 2,000 years. The Ptolemaic kings of Egypt—successors of Alexander the Great—had a staggering to house all of the books ever written under one roof, and the story of the universal library and its destruction still has the power to move us.

But what was the library, and where was it? Did it exist at all? Contemporary descriptions are vague and contradictory. The fate of the precious books themselves is a subject of endless speculation.

Canfora resolves these puzzles in one of the most unusual books of classical history ever written. He recreates the world of Egypt and the Greeks in brief chapters that marry the craft of the novelist and the discipline of the historian. Anecdotes, conversations, and reconstructions give The Vanished Library the compulsion of an exotic tale, yet Canfora bases all of them on historical and literary sources, which he discusses with great panache. As the chilling conclusion to this elegant piece of historical detective work he establishes who burned the books.

This volume has benefited from the collegial support of The Wake Forest University Studium.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Books About Books, Egypt, Ancient History, Italian Literature, Alexandria

205 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Luciano Canfora (Bari, 1942) è un filologo classico, storico, saggista e accademico italiano.
Canfora è figlio dello storico della filosofia Fabrizio Canfora e della latinista e grecista Rosa Cifarelli, entrambi docenti del prestigioso Liceo Ginnasio Quinto Orazio Flacco di Bari nonché antifascisti protagonisti della vita culturale e civile della città nel secondo dopoguerra. È professore emerito di filologia greca e latina presso l'Università di Bari e coordinatore scientifico della Scuola superiore di studi storici di San Marino. È membro dei comitati direttivi di diverse riviste, sia scientifiche sia di alta divulgazione, come il Journal of Classical Tradition di Boston, la spagnola Historia y crítica, la rivista italiana di alta divulgazione geopolitica Limes. È membro della Fondazione Istituto Gramsci e del comitato scientifico dell'Enciclopedia Treccani. Dirige inoltre, sin dal 1975, la rivista Quaderni di Storia (ed. Dedalo, Bari), la collana di testi La città antica presso l'editore Sellerio, la collana Paradosis per le edizioni Dedalo e la collana Historos per la Sandro Teti Editore.

Reviews

[Kameel Nasr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Luciano Canfora's book is well written and well researched, but his conclusion, that Muslims destroyed the great library of Alexandria, is mistaken. Canfora does not take into account that the library was not talked about for three hundred years before the Muslim conquest of Egypt. We also know that a Christian crowd destroyed Alexandria's second library located in the Temple of Serapus, and another Christian gang brutally killed Hypatia, the director of the great library. There should be little doubt that Christians destroyed that library.

[Dvd (#) · Rating 2 out of 5]

30/05/2025 (**)

Ampolloso. Costruzione narrativa quantomeno curiosa (le digressioni sparse sul mausoleo di Ramesse II e sulle sue rovine sembrano c'entrare come i cavoli a merenda, il collegamento fra questo edificio e la biblioteca di Alessandria arriva solo a fine libro).
Non posso dire di averlo trovato entusiasmante.

[Lupo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sono rimasto un po' sconcertato dalla lettura di questo libro dal quale ho imparato che la biblioteca di Ramsete non è in realtà esistita come sala e poco più. Che la biblioteca di Alessandria sia stata bruciata dagli Arabi ai tempi dell'espansione dell'Islam me lo dissero a scuola elementare, una ventina di anni prima dell'uscita di questo libro nel 1986. Sconcertante è l'uso disinvolto di episodi probabilmente mai avvenuti, come il dialogo tra l'emiro Amr e Giovanni Filopono che probabilmente era ben morto all'epoca dell'invasione araba. Altro documento usato con eccessiva scaltrezza è la lettera di Aristea, notoriamente un falso. Che sia tale, Canfora lo ammette solo nella discussioni delle fonti, ma non viene detto nel testo principale. Restano poi sconcertanti alcuni anacronismi usati nel testo, ad esempio quando Paolo Orosio, vissuto a cavallo tra il IV e il V secolo ad impero romano d'occidente ancora esistente, viene definito portoghese, termine usato solo dal medioevo dopo quelle invasioni barbariche che hanno cambiato il volto della penisola Iberica. Altro anacronismo, una vera e propria fesseria, è dare dell'antisemita ad Apione, un grammatico alessandrino vissuto tra a.C e d.C. Il termine antisemita è un termine razziale e culturale nato nel periodo dei nazionalismi, il XIX secolo. Non è minimamente applicabile a chi è vissuto intorno all'anno 1, come Apione. Inoltre di Apione sappiamo solo che ha scritto un testo contro gli Ebrei e il Giudaismo, di cui abbiamo notizia attraverso la risposta "Contro Apione", opera apologetica dell'ebraismo dello storico romano, nato a Gerusalemme, Flavio Giuseppe, scritta alla fine del I secolo d.C.. A questo punto si potrebbe dare dell'antisemita a Tacito che vedeva col fumo negli occhi il settario monoteismo degli Ebrei!
Insomma, Canfora, di cui ho molto apprezzato altri libri, qui scrive un divertissment pieno di fragili congetture che a me ha però divertito ben poco.

[Duane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is far more than the story of the mysterious library at Alexandria, and more than merely a fascinating literary and historical detective story. Herein one learns about such things as the competition between the libraries at Alexandria and Pergamum, and how the latter was forced to develop parchment technology which despite its apparent relative crudity produces a more durable product. The analysis of the fire which Caesar set, burning up 70,000 books which were apparently just commercial products, is another fascinating subtext - I mean, who knew that there were commercial publishing houses in Egypt which were selling books to the Romans?

Most importantly, one can begin to follow the manner in which literary and historical scholars transited the Mediterranean, how the conquest of Egypt by Alexander and the subsequent reign of the Ptolemies fostered the accumulation of the library, how the contents thereof including the writings of Aristotle which lie at the very core of Western civilization transited from Greece to Egypt to Rome... and all of that in the first 100 page section of this remarkable book.

The second section of the book, which details the historical sources for the author's analysis, is nearly beyond the reach of anyone other than a specialist in ancient history. But it provides yet another fascinating subtext much akin to trying to solve a centuries-old murder with only traces of hearsay information. For any given claim, such as the actual location of the library, the author gathers together the claims of the available testimonials and the timelines in which they were made, and then tries to extract therefrom which authors used what earlier sources. Then he looks for how the claims and descriptions can be reconciled to each other, even considering differences in language. It is hard for me to imagine how one could accumulate the necessary knowledge to even attempt such a task...

But somehow he manages, and the verdict does seem clear, despite the efforts of later apologists - including Gibbon, who does not acquit himself well on this issue despite his reputation for profundity - to whitewash the facts and transfer the blame. The Library, which apparently was not an actual separate building as anyone would expect, but just a collection of scrolls piled on shelves in a long hallway - although there were tens if not hundreds of thousands of them - were burned up by the Moslem conqueror of Egypt, Amrou el-Ass (and I am not making that up) on the orders of the second Caliph, Omar, who - and this bigoted quality of thought will sound very familiar to anyone familiar with our contemporary Taliban - said that since all knowledge is contained in the Koran, if the books in the library agreed with the Koran they were superfluous, and if they disagreed they were heretical, so they should be destroyed in either case.

And so, el-Ass used them to heat the 4,000 baths of Alexandria, requiring several months to burn them all - which, as they say in the FBI, "sounds like the moose-head truth" - i.e., it is a combination of details that *nobody* could have fabricated.

[Elizabeth Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

The early chapters are pretty fascinating. Later digressions left me pretty confused. It's as if a grad student discussed every reference they consulted in depth in their dissertation, rather than ever getting to the topic and conclusion of the dissertation. Pictures would be really helpful – the few sketches in the book make no sense, especially with some typos in the written descriptions (perhaps a translation error). For example, the largest statue in the land is purported to be in the room with the low, 25-foot ceiling.

The book also assumes a lot of reader knowledge and vocabulary. Most of the names are familiar –Ptolemy (various ones), Alexander, Caesar (as in Julius?) – but so many names and cities are thrown about that those of us not steeped in Italian history will struggle. This English translation could use some footnotes and a map.

[Giorgio Comel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straordinaria evocazione di un evento di cui abbiamo svariate risonanze ed echi, ma che non si riesce ad imputare ad un singolo movente o esecutore. L'incendio della favolosa, in tutti i sensi, biblioteca di Alessandria ancora dopo tanti secoli è avvolto nel mistero. Che sia stato opera di un emiro musulmano o sia invece avvenuto per mano, accidentale, dello stesso Giulio Cesare, Luciano Canfora analizza tutte le tracce disponibili. Da eccellente storico, latinista e grecista quale egli è, dispone di un lascito enorme, nella forma di trattati, memorie, cronache, che nello svolgersi di secoli hanno dato un contributo al chiarimento, o della confusione ai fini della comprensione della vicenda. Veramente eccellente nell'uso delle fonti storiche. Il libro in sé e per sé è poca cosa. Ciò che è impressionante è il corredo di note e spiegazioni delle note, che è quasi doppio rispetto al volume del libro in sè.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exceptional work of historical research that sometimes lacks accessibility for those seeking a basic recounting of what happened to the famed Alexandria Library. Without questions, Canfora is imminently familiar with the vast array of scholarly works related to ancient libraries, the procurement of books/parchments and Egyptian history that all conflate into the story of Ptolemy's great achievement in Alexandria.

I appreciated the thorough nature of the research and the somewhat halting narrative on the library's story in the half of the book. The second part is more disjointed and possibly a compilation of the author's substantial research. There is redundancy and moments when latin script is left untranslated (though the reader can move through those lines with relative ease). I'm glad to have read the book though I do think a reader should be aware that the target audience seems to be more on the academic side than a simple casual reading. That said, I learn a lot and appreciated the read.

[Patrick Wikstrom · Rating 1 out of 5]

A lot of disjointed and disorganized information about the political goings on between ruling elites after Alexander the Great built Alexandria. but very little information about the historic library itself. What archeological evidence has been located, what are the current theories. This author didn’t do it for me and I quit at 50 pages, scanned ahead here and there and read the last chapter and Epilogue. Never got better. 1*

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful and fascinating work on the Library at Alexandria but it was published in 1989 and there have been others since, 'The library of Alexandria' by Roy MacLeod, 2004; 'Library of Alexandria : The History and Legacy of the Ancient World's Most Famous Library' by Charles River Editors, 2020; and 'What Happened to the Ancient Library of Alexandria? by Mostafa El-Abbadi (editor) and many others.

None have superseded Canfora's work entirely, though I image his conclusion that the Library was finally destroyed by the Arab invaders 642AD was highly odd even in 1989 as the sources for the story of the Arab conqueror proclaiming "If those books are in agreement with the Quran, we have no need of them; and if these are opposed to the Quran, destroy them." Has been debunked by scholars since 1713.

But Canfora is more then one dubious anecdote, it is a splendid and readable tale of an extraordinay institution.

[John]

Not on Libby or hoopla

[Ana Amorim · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Victoria De · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy buena investigación, rigurosa y entretenida a la vez. Se agradece una narración ágil cuando se trata de materias más bien académicas.

[Antonio Gallo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il libro di Canfora si concentra sulla biblioteca di Alessandria d'Egitto, che è stata una delle più grandi e importantii biblioteche dell'antichità. Fondata nel 283 a.C. dal re tolemaico Tolomeo I Soter, la biblioteca aveva lo scopo di raccogliere e conservare tutti i testi dell'antichità greca, nonché di promuovere la ricerca e la cultura.

La biblioteca di Alessandria ospitava migliaia di volumi, che venivano raccolti da tutto il mondo greco e tradotti in greco per essere conservati nella biblioteca. Tra i testi più importanti che si presume fossero presenti nella biblioteca, ci sono le opere di Omero, Platone, Aristotele e molti altri autori greci.

Tuttavia, nonostante la sua importanza, la biblioteca di Alessandria fu distrutta in circostanze misteriose. Canfora esplora le diverse teorie sulle cause della distruzione della biblioteca, tra cui l'incendio causato dalle truppe di Giulio Cesare durante la sua campagna egiziana, la distruzione ad opera del califfo Omar nel VII secolo, o la distruzione graduale causata da vari eventi storici, come l'instabilità politica dell'epoca.

In ogni caso, la distruzione della biblioteca è stata un grande colpo per la cultura e la conoscenza dell'umanità, poiché molti testi antichi sono andati perduti per sempre. Il libro di Canfora ha contribuito a rinnovare l'interesse per la biblioteca di Alessandria e per la sua importanza nella storia dell'umanità, e ha ispirato ulteriori studi e ricerche sul tema.

La distruzione della biblioteca di Alessandria è stata uno dei grandi misteri della storia antica, e non esiste una teoria univocamente accettata sulla sua causa. Tuttavia, ci sono diverse teorie che sono state avanzate nel corso del tempo e che sono state oggetto di dibattito tra gli studiosi.

Una delle teorie più accreditate è quella dell'incendio causato dalle truppe di Giulio Cesare durante la sua campagna in Egitto nel 48 a.C. Secondo questa teoria, le truppe di Cesare avrebbero dato fuoco alle navi nel porto di Alessandria, e l'incendio si sarebbe propagato alla città, distruggendo anche la biblioteca.

Un'altra teoria suggerisce che la biblioteca sia stata distrutta da cristiani fanatici durante il regno di Teodosio I, che avrebbero visto i testi pagani conservati nella biblioteca come una minaccia alla loro fede.

Una terza teoria suggerisce che la biblioteca sia stata distrutta gradualmente nel corso dei secoli, a causa di vari eventi storici come le guerre, le invasioni, le rivolte e le crisi politiche.

In ogni caso, nessuna di queste teorie può essere considerata definitiva, poiché non esistono fonti storiche affidabili che confermino la causa della distruzione della biblioteca. Tuttavia, le teorie più accreditate sono quelle dell'incendio di Cesare e della distruzione graduale causata da vari eventi storici.
La distruzione della biblioteca di Alessandria ha avuto conseguenze negative sulla cultura e sulla conoscenza dell'umanità, poiché molti testi antichi sono andati perduti per sempre. Si stima che la biblioteca contenesse circa 500.000 volumi, tra cui molte opere fondamentali della letteratura, della filosofia, della storia, delle scienze e delle arti dell'antichità.

La perdita di questi testi ha rappresentato una grande lacuna nella nostra comprensione del mondo antico, poiché molti dei testi perduti erano opere originali di autori antichi che non sono sopravvissuti in altre copie. Inoltre, la biblioteca di Alessandria era anche un importante centro di studi e di ricerca, e la sua distruzione ha privato l'umanità di una grande fonte di conoscenza e di innovazione.

Tuttavia, nonostante la distruzione della biblioteca, molte opere dell'antichità sono sopravvissute grazie alle copie che erano state fatte e che si trovavano in altre biblioteche e centri di studi dell'epoca. Inoltre, il patrimonio culturale dell'antichità greca e romana è stato tramandato anche attraverso la tradizione orale, la letteratura medievale e la rinascita umanistica.

In ogni caso, la distruzione della biblioteca di Alessandria è stata una grande perdita per la cultura e la conoscenza dell'umanità, e ha lasciato un vuoto nella nostra comprensione del mondo antico che non può essere colmato.

[Kent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vanished Library is about ancient libraries, specifically the one located in the famous city of Alexandria as well as one located in the tomb of Ramses II. It also talks about a contemporary, antagonistic library in Pergamum several times. There were many historical figures mentioned including Alexander the Great, Aristotle, and many of the members of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Tons of old writings were also referenced.

This book was not what I thought it was going to be. It touched on many other things and I thought the focus would be on the Library of Alexandria. Luciano Canfora brought in a bunch of additional information that seemed to have a peripheral association with the library. From what I notice, the first use of the phrase “library of Alexandria” was on page 74. The threads of connection were weak in my mind and I was hoping for a deeper focus on the actual place. Instead, we were exposed to other works that mention the library to try to deduce what happened to it. This is a deeply scholarly work. It read like a textbook and it was extremely dense. There were tons of names, places, and events that were divulged. As a result of this I, as a person who likes to google everything that interests me, spent a lot of time getting additional information on a lot of pieces. As a person who loves antiquity and history in general, there were moments of shock and dismay. It is still uncertain what actually happened to the library, but there is a legend that Caliph Omar ordered the destruction of its contents. In this book, there was a supposed letter that stated “proceed, then, and destroy them.” I was just apoplectic at the mention of the destruction of any written word, let alone any historical artifact. I get sad and it just hurts to imagine all that has been lost to history. I recently just finished the show Rome, years after starting, and I love how I could make connections between that and what I just read. There was mention of Caesar, Antony, and Cleopatra as well as battles that I could relate to the show. This is what intrigued me about the book, the history and how things correlate with each other. I ended up learning a ton, more than I ever thought I could ever want. I just wish it was presented in a more cohesive and direct manner.

[Frans Vermeiren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vanished Library is an unconventional book. In a scientific book most readers expect to find an introduction, a structured defense of the author’s thesis, a clear discussion and rejection of opposing viewpoints, maps and footnotes if necessary, summaries and a conclusion. The more, from a professor we seem to expect some kind of textbook, which Canfora doesn’t offer.

This doesn’t mean that the subject is not discussed scientifically and comprehensively. The first half of the book contains different small chapters that at first sight only connect loosely, but together they make sense and they provide a comprehensive discussion of the fate of the Alexandrine library throughout Antiquity. The second part discusses the sources used in the first part, but in fact it is a continuation of the discussion on a different level. Professor Canfora is not teaching first years students but he addresses intelligent and independently thinking readers, he is giving a master class. He puts his readers to work, they have to reflect on the subject themselves, weigh the arguments and draw their own conclusions. Not the easiest reading, but rewarding.

Independently of the main subject of the book, on different occasions Canfora shows the common practice of altering, forging and interpolating books in Antiquity, which is an important additional insight.

To a certain extent this book reminds me of the works of W.G. Sebald, one of my favorite authors.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

So....another (what i thought was a) gem that sat on my bookshelf for decades. I finally read it the other day. Several short chapters made it a fairly easy slog. I've always been fascinated by the lost library of Alexandria. The first half describes the library, the scrolls it contained, and speculation about where it was actually housed, the historical personages involved in collecting the scrolls, the historical personages who used the library and wrote about it, and finally the politics that lead to its demise. The second half of the book is a discussion of his sources and a long academic argument in support of his argument about what actually happened. I love a good mystery, what I do not like is no resolution. By the time I closed the book I realized it was akin to a PhD dissertation. 3.5-4 stars.

[Skylar · Rating 3 out of 5]

a history for the important topic of one of the most important libraries in history.
it ends by saying,
" Surveying this series of foundations refoundations and disasters. We follow a thread that links together the various and mostly vain efforts of the Hellenistic-Roman world to preserve its books. Alexandria is the starting point and the prototype. Its fate marks the advent of the catastrophe. And is echoed in Pergamum, Antioch, Rome, Athens.
The great concentrations of books usually found in the centers of power were the main victims of these destructive outbreaks, ruinous attacks, sackings, and fires. The libraries of Byzantium proved no exception to the rule. In consequence, what has come down to us is derived not from the great centers, but from marginal locations such as convents and from scattered private copies."

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to account for my lack of adequate knowledge of the context of the fate of the Library at Alexandria, as a primer really. I learned a lot, and I can see myself going back and rereading sections to refine and strengthen my sense. I think the overriding impression is the need to always remember how little verifiable definitive history is available to tell the story of what happened and when. There are many threads of active debate surrounding issues that collectively paint the broader picture of this institution's considerable relevance, and its enduring value as a symbol of mankind's need to know.

[Mirko Verniccio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un testo difficile ma che funge, per un non esperto, da parziale richiamo al periodo greco-ellenistica. In particolare al periodo in cui diventa di fondamentale importanza la biblioteca, intesa come binomio sapere-potere.
Si scorre verso l'antico Egitto, mediante lo stesso binomio, raggiungendo un passato ancora più antico in cui alcuni faraoni inserirono biblioteche nelle proprie tombe e templi.
Poi tutto un insieme di riferimenti storici, a tratti disordinati, che riguardano la collezione persa dei libri di Aristotele, la biblioteca di Alessandria e le biblioteche concorrenti, la biblioteca del tempio di ramsete II a Tebe.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful tale of the Ancient world with details about book collecting. It ends with: "The great concentrations of book, usually found in the centres of power, were the main victims of these destructive outbreaks, ruinous attacks sackings and fires. The libraries of Byzantium roved no exception to the rule. In consequence, what has come down to us is derived not from the great centres, but from 'marginal' locations, such as convents, and from scattered private copies." p. 197
The fate of the Alexandrian library is not clearly known, but whatever remained when the Moslems entered is said to have been totally destroyed as it was of no use to them.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. On the plus side, this has lots of fascinating detail about the Library of Alexandria and its history. On the down side, Canfora tells the story as a series of anecdotes from different eras, which leaves it feeling incredibly jerky, and with no real effort to fill in the gaps between eras. About half this book is a discussion of the sources he used to derive his narrative — less of that and more background would have made this better.

[John Szalasny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is two books in one - a historical story which takes up the 1st 100 pages and short historical background on individual topics & historical written references which take up the final 97 pages. The story is easy to read, although unsurprisingly, somewhat jumpy as it spans about 1500 years of history. The second half of the book would be a good starting point for scholarly research, but is more like Cliff Notes written for the non-scholar.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A erudição de Canfora é impressionante! Por mais que a leitura seja muito agradável, não dá pra ser descrita como simples em função das inumeráveis referências a fontes e à historiografia que lhe era contemporânea. O glossário ao final da edição da Cia. das Letras auxilia a leitura em muitos pontos. Além de tratar sobre a biblioteca (ou as bibliotecas) de Alexandria em vários pontos na história, dá pra se aprender muito sobre cultura livresca e prática de produção de livros na antiguidade.

[Fanny Mazzolai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Benché molto interessante in diversi punti ho fatto fatica a concludere la lettura. Il libro è, a mio parere, un po' ermetico, come se l'autore volesse rivolgersi ad una piccola élite di dotti, piuttosto che a un lettore qualsiasi.
Non vi sono molte date e si fa fatica a seguire i balzi temporali e i cambi di scena, pur conoscendo alcuni dei fatti descritti.
Nonostante tutto la conclusione che descrive le circostanze della distruzione dei libri mi ha stretto il cuore.

[J. Alfred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scholarly and punchy and informative and gossipy and quick. And kind of a historical whodunit, which is fun. Will give you some good info, not just on the great Library at Alexandria, but also background on Shelley's poem "Ozymandias," the writing of the Septuagint, the Caesar/ Cleopatra/ Marc Antony soap opera, and early Imperial/ Ecclesiastical power and politics. And about information storage technology and the dangers of religious bigotry. Very odd interesting little book.

[Isaurent De Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinante la manera en que se cuenta la historia de los grandes pergaminos que habitaron alguna vez en la Biblioteca de Alejandría y el valor tan alto que se tenía de las bibliotecas como “cuidadoras del alma”. Lo que más admira es la historia de los escritos de Aristóteles y cómo llegaron a nuestros días. Un libro que todo Aristotélico o amante de la historia de Cleopatra y Marco Antonio debe leer.

[T Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating string of well-researched anecdotes, full of violence and politics and life. Consensus has moved on somewhat from the book's conclusions about the library's ultimate fate, but this read is nevertheless awe-inspiring for any book-lover who wonders how books intersected with everything else in ancient European culture.

[Vanessa Fernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a feeling the more you already know on this subject, the more you will enjoy this book. I did learn some things and found the structure interesting. The back cover description implies it is a fun scholarly read, but it does require some brainpower to keep all the names straight- more than I wanted to dedicate to a read before bed.

[Rtrv2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bit like reading a Borges short story but in real life. After finishing it, I still don't really understand what the book is about. Some of the other reviewers seem to be saying that it's a kind of "whoburnedit", but if so, I don't see why people thinks he blames the Arabs, since he rather explicitly says that he doesn't think they did it?

I am so confused.

[Fabo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sinossi del testo fuorviante: di Alessandria si parla come parte, non come tema.

Più che una trattazione storica, seppur ricca di fonti, sembra un divertissment che riporta colloqui immaginari e uno sterminato e variegato elenco di fonti (spesso poco credibili).

Visto l'autore mi aspettavo decisamente di più.

Sconsiglio