Books on Fire: The Destruction of Libraries throughout History

by Lucien X. Polastron

A historical survey of the destruction of knowledge from ancient Babylon and China to modern times

• Includes the three separate destructions of the Library of Alexandria as well as many equally significant collections around the world

• Examines the causes of violence directed at repositories of knowledge

• Looks at the dangers posed by digitalization of books to the free availability of knowledge in the future

Hebrew, Hindu, Nordic, and Islamic traditions share the belief of a vast library existing before the creation of the world. The Vedas say that this library predated the creator’s creation of himself. Yet, almost as old as the idea of the library is the urge to destroy it. The reasons cited for this are educated people are much harder to govern, and some proclaim that only the illiterate can save the world. There are also great destructions brought about by weather, worms, and even the paranoia of the library’s owner.

Books on Fire traces the history of this perpetual destruction from the burning of the great library of Alexandria (on three separate occasions) and the libraries of the Chinese Qing Dynasty to more modern catastrophic losses such as those witnessed in Nazi-occupied Europe and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The author examines the causes for these disasters, the treasures that have been lost, and where the surviving books, if any, have ended up. His investigation also reveals a new danger facing libraries today with the digitalization of books threatening both the existence of the physical paper book and the very idea of reading for free. The promise of an absolute library offered by the computer may well turn out to equal the worst nightmares of Ray Bradbury, Aldous Huxley, and George Orwell.

Books on Fire received the 2004 Société des Gens de Lettres Prize for Nonfiction/History in Paris.

Genres: History, Books About Books, Nonfiction, Historical, Science, Unfinished, Adult

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

- Born in 1944 from Gascony families.
- Classical studies and first articles published (about medieval architecture, and after spending days in research libraries).
- Deputy chief editor at Maisons d’hier et d’aujourd’hui monthly magazine in 1966.
- Early in the seventies, works for modern art and architecture press.
- First trip to China in 1976, learns Chinese and starts reporting about Chinese cultural history then Japan.
- Begins practicing Chinese calligraphy and devotes himself to studying paper workmanship in Asia. Starts writing a huge history of paper.
- 1992: the destruction of the National Library in Sarajevo triggers his systematic research into destruction of libraries as he had already encountered several such events while working on paper history.
- End of the nineties: to complete his knowledge begins visiting Middle-East, mainly Egypt, starts learning Arabic, classical, colloquial, and calligraphy.
- 2003: 55th stay in China, 21st in Japan, 8th in Alexandria. Lives and works in Normandy.

Reviews

[Issa Deerbany · Rating 4 out of 5]

موضوع جديد بالنسبة لي ومعلومات ايضا كثيرة لم اكن اعرفها.
يسلط المؤلف على المكتبات التي تم حرقها او اختفت كتبها من الوجود في كل عصر من العصور.
بدءا من المكتبات في العصور القديمة وخاصة مكتبة الاسكندرية وما تعرضت له خلال الزمن .
وتتعجب من عدد المكتبات في تلك العصور مع ما في مخيلتنا انها حضارات عسكرية واهتمت بالعمران اكثر من الاداب والعلم والمعرفة.
حتى اعداد الكتب الذي يذكرها المؤلف تدعوا الى الدهشه.
وكيف تم هدم او احراق هذه المكتبات.
والصراع الايدولوجي كان له اكبر الاثر في حرق المكتبات. فالوثنية اليونانية حاربت المسيحيين الاوائل واحرقت كتبهم اذا استطاعت الوصول اليها. ثم حدث العكس بعد انتشار المسيحية التي احرقت جميع المكتبات لهذه الديانه الوثنية .
حتى الكاثوليك وما فعلوه في كتب الارثوذكس .
ورغم ان الكاتب اشار في كتابه الى ما فعله المسلمون في مكتبات البلدان التي فتحوها فهو لم يكن صادقا فأقل ديانه قامت بحرق وتدمير المكتبات هي الديانة الاسلامية.
يتجول المؤلف في جميع انحاء العالم من اليابان الى تشيلي وكل منطقة او سمع انه كان بها مكتبة.
ثم يعرج الى العصر الحديث حيث اصبحت الكتب وخاصة النادر منها والمخطوطات مطمع للدول. وكيف كان النازيون ينقلونها الى المانيا وبعد انهزام المانيا اصبح المنتصرون يبحثون عنها لاعادتها او تصديرها الى بلدانهم.
ثم يتعرض الى مشكلات المكتبات في العصر الحالي ومشكلة التضخم لهذه المكتبات ولم تعد تتسع حيث اصبح حرق الكتب واتلافها خاصة للقديم منها مطلب مع انه يتم بالسر واذا علمت الصحافة بذلك فهي مشكلة كبيرة.

واختصارا للقول:
ان تجميع الكتب هو بداية انتهائها
كم من مكتبة شخصية في بيت بعد وفاة مالكها تم تدميرها.
كم من الكتب تم سرقتها من المكتبات العامة وتم اتلافها بعد الانتهاء منها واذا كان السارق خبيرا في المخطوطات او الكتب القديمة يقوم ببيعها.

وشكر

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book a little depressing. It seems that no sooner did someone get a nice collection of books together someone else came along and burned/stole/sold it. It got to the point, whenever someone would start a collection of books that, I'd think NO, don't do it, b/c I knew by the end of the paragraph someone else would come along and it'd be destroyed. Like in those horror movies, when the character says I'll be right back. The author would mention books that you'd think that'd be interesting to see and then he'd tell you how it had been lost for all time b/c someone burned/stole it.

[Nadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

عن تاريخ حرائق المكتبات و ضياع إرث إنساني مهم

[سماح العرياني · Rating 5 out of 5]

من إتلاف الكتب في العصور القديمة إلى بداية الفيلم الأسود لحرق المكتبات أو منع الكتب، والنزعة الاستبدادية المطلقة والمنظمة التي تهدف إلى وأد الحرية الفكرية.
فاليهود والمسيحيون ثم المسلمون الذين جاؤوا بعدهم كانوا جميعاً أصحاب كتاب واحد. وهذا ما أدى بالأتباع إلى احتقار كل الكتب الأخرى، بل وحتى إلى حرقها وتدميرها بحجة أنه لا لزوم لها.
بالإضافة إلى الانقسامات والصراعات المذهبية التي حصلت داخل الدين الواحد والتي تسببت في تدمير المكتبات.
هذا غير الحروب المدمرة وتوابع الاحتلال..

بالإضافة لعوامل الطبيعة من هزات أرضية وأعاصير ومياه الأمطار والفيضانات، وأيضاً الإهمال الذي يتسبب غالباً بالحرائق ..

أكثر ما أحزنني هو ما حصل للعراق ! ..
لقد نُهب العراق !

رائع رائع جداً، معلومات قيّمة تضاف للقارئ

[David Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to present this book for class - and it was a book I picked from the school library on a whim.

It turns out it was very interesting - it's an excellent text on libricide; both chronologically and geographically. Lucien Polastron knows how to write, even though this book confused me and frustrated me more than once with the overdose of details and the dense way it's written.

However, it's very informative, and aside from book burnings, it includes many other historical facts - beheadings and murders and evilness. The indexes at the end are very informative and well-structured, but I think this book needed to be edited down a bit to be as great as it could have been.

[فاطِمة الحمام · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب رائع ويعتبر كمرجع لحرائق الكتب منذ بداية الكتب ليومنا هذا
فقد ذكر فيه أغلب جرائم حرق المكتبات وإغراقها وسرقتها..

[Nor el yasmine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love books about books, but not this one... I don't know if it was just a bad translation, or just poor organization, or a combination of both, but I didn't enjoy reading it !

[Joshua Deaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

For any true Historian that happens to also be a bibliophile, this book was written for you. From the 'idea' of what a library was back in B.C.e to what it is considered today this book allows us to witness some of the most ferocious acts against knowledge. A quote from the preface that blew me away, "The book is the double of the man,and burning it is the equivalent of killing him." Page X.

It does become true primary source material at times, but if you like the proof of a struggle dive in with a lust for biblioknowledge and an open mind. Some parts are hard reading but the overall concept is worth the source research.

[Al waleed Kerdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

إضاءة رائعة على تاريخ حرق وتدمير المكتبات, ويبقى ما قام به الفرنسيين أثناء الثورة الفرنسية وما بعدها وما قام به النازيين لا يقارن لا بالزمان ولا بالمكان لأي حدث أتلف به كتب عبر التاريخ, بربرية بلا حد وجهل وتخلف سجلهما التاريخ لتذكيرنا بما حدث في الماض القريب قبل البعيد.

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book on the history and destruction of libraries (even now, author says google books is a form of destruction, i tend to agree). author says libraries are destroyed, closed, underfunded, because educated people cannot be controlled. i tend to agree.

[So Hakim · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book written with an axe to grind. Opinion and facts meshed together in a way you can almost feel the author's wrath from the pages.

The author tends to assume things with hostile measure, up to being straight-up unfair. He attacks religious institutions for banning and burning books. Yet he barely acknowledges when religious forces helped preserving books. Monasteries in Ireland and Germany sheltering manuscript during Middle Ages; Nestorians preserving and translating Greco-Roman science; even Charlemagne (Holy Roman Emperor) encouraging rise of Classical Latin literature in 9th century AD.

Pretty much every Roman Latin work that came down to us are traceable to collections of Middle Age monasteries and cathedral schools. Yet in the book we read more of irresponsible bishops, dilapidated libraries, etc.

Same pattern continues whether the destruction was enacted by overzealous government or secular leaders. Always they bad, victim good, no discussion of other possible scenarios or motives.

The book also fall for the "too big a scope, too little space" trap. Here we have 327 pages, including appendix... trying to capture of 5000+ years of book burning in history. From China to Arabia and even mentioning the Americas. Well, good luck with that...

To be sure, it does present some neat facts, even quite obscure ones. But still. May be successful as ideological pamphlet -- but never as a work reporting history.

[Theut · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stelle e 1/2
Tema interessante e, purtroppo, sempre di attualità (l'autore arriva al 2003, ma solo perché il libro è stato pubblicato nel 2006). Non mi ha "entusiasmato" perché la parte sui roghi nella zona "Asia prima del XX secolo" e su tutto quello che non è il mondo europeo moderno è una sorta carrellata con luoghi e date, senza molto contesto o dettagli. Le altri parti invece hanno tutto un altro respiro.

[Wallysierk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic overview of great libraries of history, and chronicles of their destruction, including some political analysis of what makes people want build, burn,and steal libraries. This is fun, fast paced, and filled with more information per page than many books manage to convey in their entirety.

[Asmaa El-musri · Rating 1 out of 5]

كتاب سردي بطريقة غاية في الملل فضلاً عن أنه يتجنى على التاريخ بشكل قاتل
وكل المعلومات اللي أوردها عن الفتوحات والخلفاء في أول ١٠٠ صفحة غلط كلياً

[Dounia Zed]

.....و يبقى العدو اللدود لمجموعات الكتب الخاصة هو غياب مالكها......

[حسين كاظم · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جميل جدا، لا يكتفي بتاريخ حرق وإتلاف الكتب، وإنما يتجاوز ذلك إلى تاريخ مختلف الأمم وتعاطيها مع الكتب، ومن أهمها الأمة العربية والإسلامية.

أشعرني بالملل أثناء القراءة في بعض الأحيان، ولكنه يستحق القراءة حتما.

[Arij Mohammed · Rating 4 out of 5]

"كتاب ثقييل" زاخر بالاحداث التاريخية والرصد والأرقام
يتحدث عن تاريخ حرق الكتب عبر الأجيال والأمم المتلاحقة
الشيء الذي استوقفني وراق لي
أن المترجم كان يعلق على بعض مزاعم أو أراء الكاتب نفسه لوسيان بولاسترون ويصوب أخطاءه أو اللبس الذي وقع فيه
بالمجمل الكتاب جيد ويستحق القراءة

[Shelley Diamond · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a depressing but necessary accounting of events that have occurred throughout recorded history, in a wide range of nations. A six-page appendix lists a "selective chronology" of these events. If you need more details, read the entire book. But that appendix alone made me nauseous and disgusted with the human race....

It's hard to say you "like" a book giving this information, but we must never forget that we are always at risk of having our access to knowledge destroyed. Bad news is still important news...

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review title: Unholy fire

Polastron (as translated by Jon E. Graham) pulls no punches:

The schism and blackades due to religion were a more frequent cause for the loss of Arab-Muslim libraries than pure stupidity, and the European conflicts for the faith would make these their specialty. (p. 72)

In this history of library destruction, the reader will be frustrated in the search for natural causes of the destruction of man's recorded knowledge and history beyond the famous exception of Pompeii's destruction by volcano. For the rest, it was primarily human hands, not nature, that caused the carnage.

And the destruction isn't random; by the time Johannes Reuchlin in 1510 published his pioneering work advocating tolerance ("an entire people cannot be held responsible for individual expression", p. 75), a Chinese emperor nearly 2,000 years before had established the precedent and justification of law and order: 'to burn the books so that the laws and ordinances can emerge.' (p. 86) Political and religious orders throughout history have been created and sustained by the publication of their literature and the systematic destruction of everything else under the heading of heresy or treason. The destructive impulse reached its extreme in the 1811 writings by the mystic rabbi Nachman, who argued that all writing, including the orthodox and sacred should be burned "because, just like the heretical books, they make it 'impossible to approach the Blessed Name.'" (p. 79)

So where church and state, of all deities and philosophies conspire to destroy, books and their keepers are powerless to preserve. In the manuscript era, much was lost, though how much and of what value, Polastron writes, is intensely debated in academic circles. The introduction of the printing press provided exponentially more fodder for the fire, while making eradication of the final copies nearly impossible. So that bit of optimism lightens the shade thrown on the 20th century efficient destruction (of men and books) by governments and armies in Europe, Asia, and the Persian Gulf. For details on German library raids and the struggle to repatriate those books, see The Book thieves: The Nazi looting of Europe's libraries and the race to return a literary inheritance

This is not, in general, an optimistic book. Polastron writes with a sarcastic and pessimistic tone that isn't relieved by the seemingly clunky translation from the original French. He documents in sometimes monotonous repetition library after library gone up in flames, organized roughly by chronology and geography. Writing in 2004, Polastron is also pessimistic about technical innovations such as microfilming and digitization (then in its early stages) intended to preserve precious library materials and shelf space; his concerns center on the mutilation of the printed book during the conversion process and its destruction afterward (to save space and money), the risk of lost content due to poor quality conversion, the costs of the new technologies that divert funds away from buying and preserving paper copies, and the long term availability of storage and viewing equipment as new technology replaces the current technologies over the long run.

Like The Memory of mankind: The Story of libraries since the dawn of history, which I recently read and which Polastron cites, the execution was not as good as the idea, so I was left disappointed. This is a book for professional librarians and intrepid book lovers only.

[Leslie Zuñiga · Rating 4 out of 5]

El título de esta obra es fiel al contenido. Tan sólo al comenzar la primera página de esta obra, la mente se enlista en una continúa e ininterrumpida destrucción de libros en cualquier espacio y cualquier latitud. Es una lectura lenta y dedicada, llena de datos a estudiar y verificar.
Lo único que me podría dejar debiendo es una reflexión más profunda sobre lo que implica el libro para la memoria, la vida, la muerte y la trascendencia en la historia de la humanidad.

[Abeer Al-Yosifi · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جيد ومهم لمن يود الإطلاع على تاريخ المكتبات

[Emma Gerts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well thank god that's over. What a slog that turned out to be.
I'm heartily disappointed in this tome. I added it to my to-read list as what I hoped would be a complementary book-end to a book I read last year(? year before maybe?) about amazing librarians who were able to save library collections from terrible circumstances. I had been hoping for a similar tone here - a book that would romp through the history of libraries and how they were destroyed, whether by fire or flood or war or incompetance. Obviously I knew a book about the destruction of libraries would be distressing but this was, more than anything, distressingly boring.

Perhaps the translation from the original French is to blame, but it took more than halfway through this book before I adjusted to the writing style enough to even be able to focus on it for more than a page or two. The structure is . . . bizarre, seeming to meander aimlessly through history. Honestly I couldn't name more than two or three of the events discussed in this book, and those were the ones I already knew about. The information seemed to drift out one ear as fast as it went in. I had trobule paying attention.

By the time I had started to be able to follow the discussion, it was nearly over, and the last few chapters disappointingly devolve into what can only be described as bitterness. As a book published in the early 2000s, I understand some of the author's doubt about the future of libraries with the advent of digital technology - everyone did - but the absolute caustic whinging about libraries weeding collections, the lengthy rant about deaccessioning - as if libraries should somehow be able to have infinite collections, as if no one should ever throw out an old edition. Perhaps it was only because as a librarian I was offended and appalled at the author's bitter complaints, but I found these final chapters to be absolutely ridiculous. The complaints about libraries purchasing digital materials reek of ludism and frankly turned me off even more.

The only thing that saved this book from being one star is that there were some genuine gems of interesting information about historical book collections and the history of libraries through time.

[Attila · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rough and sad read, presenting the senseless destruction of books and libraries from ancient times to today. At its root, there are always the same conflicts: quests to eradicate nations and cultures, war between superstition and rationalism, attempts at altering history, fear of knowledge. Add floods, fires, insects, negligence - you cannot even imagine how much of humanity's shared legacy was destroyed.

[هاني حيدر · Rating 3 out of 5]

انتهيتُ من تصفح هذا الكتاب والذي يتحدث عن تاريخ المكتبات في العالم أجمع منذ عرف الناس الكتاب ، وأصل إنشاء المكتبات ، وما حلّ بكثير منها من حرق وتدمير وخسائر رهيبة للحضارة الإنسانية ..
الكتاب في رأيي جيد للباحثين والمهتمين بالتاريخ أكثر من القراء العاديين ، فهو ضخم (٤٢٩ص) بحروف صغيرة وأوراق كبيرة. ويغلب عليه الطابع الأكاديمي.
.
٣ من ٥

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among those who love books and libraries  there is an understandable undercurrent of fear about the threats faced to the preservation (much less the increase) of knowledge around the world as is represented by the library.  Whether one reads the melancholy record of the destruction of histories due to war and civil unrest and politically motivated violence, or one is fond of reading dystopian literature, there is a great deal of concern shown towards the vulnerability of libraries and the books they contain.  As someone who frequently reads books about books and their history and storage and preservation, it has become increasingly obvious that a great deal of the fear about the survival of civilization is tied up to concerns about the safety of books and the hostility that many regimes historically and at present have shown towards books.  Indeed, violence towards books and towards learning as a whole has been connected to violence against people, with all of the dangers that entails for unpopular parts of a population whose learning is not valued and whose educational achievements can make them a target for the hostility of powerful forces.

While the chronology of this roughly 300 page book dashes around, it takes a generally chronological and regional look at the destruction of books and libraries throughout history, beginning rather sensibly with the libraries and archives of the ancient near east (1) before moving on to Egypt and its libraries and the horrors inflicted upon the library of Alexandria by repeated disasters, starting with Julius Caesar's efforts (2).  There are discussions about the immense destruction of ancient books by early Muslims, including all of the earliest Quran manuscripts (3), the ambiguous attitude of Venetians and Jews towards books (4), the massive destruction of texts in China and other places by rulers as well as invaders (5), and the destruction of Jewish and Muslim texts by medieval and early modern Christians in the west (6).  After this tour de force the author spends a great deal of time discussing the horrors of book destruction by French liberals, communists, Nazis, and others in the last 150 years or so (7) as well as a look at the suffering that books and libraries face even in peacetime (8) before closing the book with a discussion of the embarrassment of modernity when it comes to books (9), the desire on a part of many to create flameproof knowledge with digital books (10), and an epilogue that features a return to Alexandria and some of its contemporary problems with books (11).  After this there are three appendices that look at the destruction of the library among great writers (i), a short history of the census of lost books (ii) and a selective chronology of the destruction of libraries (iii).

While admittedly a book like this one can get somewhat monotonous with all of the litany of destruction that libraries have suffered throughout history in war and peace, form natural causes, internal political turmoil and efforts at controlling a population through keeping it ignorant, there are a lot of lessons that one can learn from a book like this.  For one, there appears to be genuinely little agreement that writings as a whole deserve to be protected.  Indeed, there appears to be near universal agreement that the writings of some deserve to be consigned to the flames for one reason or another (and I would not disagree).  The only question is whose writings deserve to be consigned to oblivion and which deserve to be preserved.  And in the absence of a commitment to preserve everything for the future, libraries and book collections will be subject to continued damage as a result of a desire to protect the people from books that are viewed as threatening and harmful to ruling powers even where they are able to be preserved from the normal ravages of time.  The author is right to be somewhat pessimistic about such matters, I believe.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting compilation of libraries burned throughout history for multiple reasons: natural disaster, war, intentional cultural suppression. The examples Polastron collates are interesting in themselves, but very much let down by the book's organisation which jumps recklessly between periods, continents, and motivations for the book burnings. There is little which is analytical here either: Polastron often pauses to lament book destruction, which he sees as 'barbaric', without pausing to examine exactly why the books were burned.

Irritatingly, Polastron fires off endless diatribes about the age we live in now and the future we are headed towards with regards to the decline of printed books. Digital books, in his opinion, are ruinous to scholarship and the use of screens is eroding the brains of 'young people' who will one day want to stop reading altogether. Not that welcoming a tone for me, a 'young person' who is, not without irony, reading his book online. And also, given he has just written 250 whole pages about how easily physical books succumb to disaster, you would think he would be more optimistic about the opportunities afforded by digitisation.

Lastly, Polastron on occasion strikes a bigoted and jarring tone. I came here to read a catalogue of destroyed libraries, not to have a guy sound off about how if Brazilians only read a bit more they would not be a nation of dictators and drug addicts ?! (p.129), or lament that the new head of the British Library is a woman (p.276). Oh, and speaking of women, it is unacceptable that a book written in the 21st century should refer to ALL READERS using the pronoun 'he'. Women can read books too, Lucien!!!

[Zandt McCue · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of the phrase Niveau Riche. If you have an interest in books beyond the words they contain and also enjoy History Channel Documentaries: this is for you. I happen to fall into those categories and thought this was a well-researched piece. I'm always hesitant when I feel a book is going to be one giant info dump. Books on Fire divides the history of civilization into chapters, then sub-sections. It's organized very coherently. Still, within those sections, our travel through time comes at a rapid pace. We're going through thousands of years of information. People will fly at you and leave just as quickly. The general idea is that civilizations will start valuing books and building libraries both personal and public and then tragedy would befall said libraries usually by way of an opposing group murdering everyone and destroying all remnants of their society. Or, more amusing, the libraries are burnt down accidentally while people try to destroy other things. Caesar and the ships, for example.

Once we arrive at the time of the World Wars, the pacing slows down to match spending more time in each area we cover. The later half of the book deeply familiarizes us with the modern fall of libraries around the world. It also covers destruction not caused by fire such as sinking ships and natural perils. Ultimately, we end up in the digital age where the final threat of books as we know them is technology. Of course, I am reading this on my computer screen in PDF format. Huzzah!

[Gus López · Rating 5 out of 5]

El autor brinda al lector de un cumulo de información, es por ello que cada capítulo o división cuenta con su propia bibliografía al final del mismo, ya que acumularla al final sería para el lector que ocupa una referencia todo un periplo. Se ilustran muchos episodios sobre la destrucción de libros y bibliotecas. El autor abarca una temporalidad bastante extensa de más de 3000 años además de que recorre la mayoría de los continentes de forma acertada. No solo habla de libros sino de su historia, de sus autores y de los lugares y circunstancias de las bibliotecas más famosas. Es un libro con mucho contenido histórico y filosófico, además de que el autor en algunos partes emplea un humor bastante sutil. La edición mexicana en español está a cargo del Fondo de Cultura Económica.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable read, despite the author's (or perhaps the translator's) best efforts to render the text into an almost entirely unintelligible obfuscation, and I've have gladly given it 4 stars, but then Polastron presents us with a chapter in which he rages against any library that dares perpetuate the crime of deaccessioning or even worse, makes content available on microfom - all without seemingly having ever actually spoken to a librarian or conservator charged with managing either of these processes.
Full disclosure - I'm a librarian, but the book still loses a star for this anti-library screed!

[J. F. Vega · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este no es un libro para todos y es más bien un libro para aquellos que aman los libros. Polastron construye una historia sobre la destrucción de las bibliotecas, sobre quema de libros, y nos cuenta cómo más seguido de lo que quisiéramos recordar su destrucción responde al miedo u odio al que es diferente, es un ataque político, es un ataque religioso, es un ataque social a lo que no toleramos. Y nos lleva a los amantes de libros a sufrir sobre aquellas grandes pérdidas que hemos tenido por el odio al conocimiento.