Books > History > World history
|
Buy Now
Burning the Books: RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK - A History of Knowledge Under Attack (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R597
Discovery Miles 5 970
|
|
Burning the Books: RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK - A History of Knowledge Under Attack (Hardcover)
(sign in to rate)
Loot Price R597
Discovery Miles 5 970
Expected to ship within 9 - 15 working days
|
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 'Burning the Books is fascinating,
thought-provoking and very timely. No one should keep quiet about
this library history' IAN HISLOP Opening with the notorious
bonfires of 'un-German' and Jewish literature in 1933 that offered
such a clear signal of Nazi intentions, Burning the Books takes us
on a 3000-year journey through the destruction of knowledge and the
fight against all the odds to preserve it. Richard Ovenden,
director of the world-famous Bodleian Library, explains how attacks
on libraries and archives have been a feature of history since
ancient times but have increased in frequency and intensity during
the modern era. Libraries are far more than stores of literature,
through preserving the legal documents such as Magna Carta and
records of citizenship, they also support the rule of law and the
rights of citizens. Today, the knowledge they hold on behalf of
society is under attack as never before. In this fascinating book,
he explores everything from what really happened to the Great
Library of Alexandria to the Windrush papers, from Donald Trump's
deleting embarrassing tweets to John Murray's burning of Byron's
memoirs in the name of censorship. At once a powerful history of
civilisation and a manifesto for the vital importance of physical
libraries in our increasingly digital age, Burning the Books is
also a very human story animated by an unlikely cast of
adventurers, self-taught archaeologists, poets, freedom-fighters --
and, of course, librarians and the heroic lengths they will go to
preserve and rescue knowledge, ensuring that civilisation survives.
From the rediscovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the desert, hidden
from the Romans and lost for almost 2000 years to the medieval
manuscript that inspired William Morris, the knowledge of the past
still has so many valuable lessons to teach us and we ignore it at
our peril.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.