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A review by beccakatie
Burning The Books: A History of Knowledge Under Attack by Richard Ovenden
5.0
The power of accessible knowledge can not be overstated, and this book does an excellent job of highlighting the importance of libraries and archives through history. The relationship between oppression and the destruction of books is pulled sharply into focus.
The way the book is structured into different types of destruction works really well. Although it means the chronology doesn’t always line up, and examples such as Byron are repeated, it really drives home the many directions knowledge can be threatened from.
I found it to be well written and accessible, and appreciated how the book did not shy away from discussions about colonisation and the theft of objects by imperial powers.
The discussion about the digital world and the new threats facing it was really interesting and well written. It’s easy for sections like that to become dated but I don’t believe this section, or the entire book, will fail to be relevant any time soon.
The way the book is structured into different types of destruction works really well. Although it means the chronology doesn’t always line up, and examples such as Byron are repeated, it really drives home the many directions knowledge can be threatened from.
I found it to be well written and accessible, and appreciated how the book did not shy away from discussions about colonisation and the theft of objects by imperial powers.
The discussion about the digital world and the new threats facing it was really interesting and well written. It’s easy for sections like that to become dated but I don’t believe this section, or the entire book, will fail to be relevant any time soon.