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Quemar libros: Una historia de la destrucción deliberada del conocimiento

Quemar libros: Una historia de la destrucción deliberada del conocimiento

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  • Create Date：2021-04-30 04:15:58
  • Update Date：2025-09-23
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  • Author：Richard Ovenden
  • ISBN：8491993037
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Summary

«Apasionante e iluminador。 Este espléndido libro revela cómo， en el mundo actual de noticias falsas y hechos alternativos， las bibliotecas se mantienen como desafiantes guardianes de la verdad。» —The Times

Tomando como punto de partida la infame quema de libros «no alemanes» y judíos de 1933， que daba una idea bastante inequívoca sobre las intenciones de los nazis， Quemar libros nos sumerge en un viaje de 3000 años a través de la destrucción del conocimiento y la lucha por preservarlo。

Richard Ovenden， director de la mundialmente conocida Bodleian Library de Oxford， nos cuenta que los ataques a bibliotecas han sido una constante histórica desde la antigüedad， pero han incrementado su frecuencia e intensidad en la Edad Moderna。 Las bibliotecas son mucho más que almacenes de literatura; al conservar documentos legales como la Carta Magna o registros censales， también defienden la ley y los derechos de los ciudadanos。 En este fascinante libro Ovenden traza un análisis completo， desde lo que realmente sucedió con la Biblioteca de Alejandría hasta los papeles de la generación Windrush， y desde Donald Trump borrando tweets vergonzosos hasta John Murray quemando las memorias de Lord Byron en nombre de la censura。

Esta obra es， a la vez， una gran historia de la civilización y un manifiesto sobre la vital importancia de las bibliotecas físicas en una era cada vez más digital， pero Quemar libros es también una historia humana a la que da vida un sorprendente reparto de aventureros， arqueólogos autodidactas， poetas， activistas… y， por supuesto， los bibliotecarios y el heroico camino que recorren para conservar y rescatar el conocimiento y garantizar así la supervivencia de la civilización。

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Reviews

Asmaa Ali ，

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 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 الشنيعالكتاب رائع！ 。。。more

Douglas ，

Some human behaviours never change。

Lynne Emmett ，

While the first few chapters of this book were very interesting， the book was longer than the information required to fill it。 It drifted off into other areas - I can't even remember what they were now。 While the first few chapters of this book were very interesting， the book was longer than the information required to fill it。 It drifted off into other areas - I can't even remember what they were now。 。。。more

Liz ，

Are you in the mood to be angry， nay FURIOUS at the Reformation？ Are you ready to howl about the bombings of places you probably didn't know existed？ Are you suddenly wondering about the security of all the material you've ever created in your life？Do I have the book for you！Part story， part call-to-action， part homage to the Bodleian Library， Ovenden has written a book about the importance of where the things we know live and the reasons our stories need our constant， active protection in order Are you in the mood to be angry， nay FURIOUS at the Reformation？ Are you ready to howl about the bombings of places you probably didn't know existed？ Are you suddenly wondering about the security of all the material you've ever created in your life？Do I have the book for you！Part story， part call-to-action， part homage to the Bodleian Library， Ovenden has written a book about the importance of where the things we know live and the reasons our stories need our constant， active protection in order to survive。 You guys， we have lost SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE。 Ovenden's book barely scratches the surface of how much and is a reminder of the work needed to protect what we have。 。。。more

Colin ，

A history of the deliberate destruction of 。 。 。 history 。 。 。Burning the Books is a history of the deliberate destruction of knowledge。 Since writing was first developed， the records of human existence have become part of the birthright and legacy of humanity - its deliberate destruction is a crime against humanity。 And this is not just the literal burning of books， as the Nazis did， but even the tampering and distortion of records， as corrupt regimes including the Trump administration， have do A history of the deliberate destruction of 。 。 。 history 。 。 。Burning the Books is a history of the deliberate destruction of knowledge。 Since writing was first developed， the records of human existence have become part of the birthright and legacy of humanity - its deliberate destruction is a crime against humanity。 And this is not just the literal burning of books， as the Nazis did， but even the tampering and distortion of records， as corrupt regimes including the Trump administration， have done。 This book catalogs the importance of libraries， archives， and other such records to the human race， and the perils we're now facing in the age of digitization and the challenges of storing， sorting， and using vast amounts of digital data。 。。。more

Stephen Brown ，

While clearly not attempting to be a complete history， this book does provide illustrations from the past of the dangers and consequences of the destruction of archives of knowledge。 It also raises the key issue as to how we archive information and knowledge in a digital era。

ALICE ，

Progress is dependent on free and open access to knowledge for all people。 Throughout our human history， libraries have had the essential task of preserving ideas and histories。 Because libraries are repositories of a society's memory， they are often the first target of enemies who wish to destroy that society。 The enemies can be from without， like a conquering army， or from within， like authoritarian regimes who want to erase unhelpful history。 This is an excellent discussion of incidents throu Progress is dependent on free and open access to knowledge for all people。 Throughout our human history， libraries have had the essential task of preserving ideas and histories。 Because libraries are repositories of a society's memory， they are often the first target of enemies who wish to destroy that society。 The enemies can be from without， like a conquering army， or from within， like authoritarian regimes who want to erase unhelpful history。 This is an excellent discussion of incidents throughout history of the destruction of libraries and the continuing effort to preserve our human history。 。。。more

Barbara ，

The older history of libraries was more interesting than the more modern ones， but overall， learned a bit about how libraries are kind of shaped。

Andrea van Wyk ，

"Wherever they burn books， they will also， in the end， burn human beings。" - Heinrich Heine （1823） These words were not only prescient （more than a hundred years after they were spoken the Nazis would be murdering Jews and destroying their works） but they described the past。 Knowledge is power， they say， and nowhere is this more evident in the desire to destroy it。 In his book， "Burning the Books， A History of Knowledge Under Attack"， the director of Oxford University's Bodleian Libraries， Rich "Wherever they burn books， they will also， in the end， burn human beings。" - Heinrich Heine （1823） These words were not only prescient （more than a hundred years after they were spoken the Nazis would be murdering Jews and destroying their works） but they described the past。 Knowledge is power， they say， and nowhere is this more evident in the desire to destroy it。 In his book， "Burning the Books， A History of Knowledge Under Attack"， the director of Oxford University's Bodleian Libraries， Richard Ovenden， traces the origins of books and the persistent attempts to eradicate them over a period of 3，000 years。 Clay tablets that survive of a great library in Mesopotamia， millennia ago， show how the thirst for knowledge and need to record it， is an ancient one。 Ovenden talks about the annihilation of the great library of Alexandra， arguably the most famous in history。 He believes it was due to neglect and underfunding that the library likely came to an end， rather than just pillaging me Roman soldiers。 This， a warning to future governments to protect their own。 Destroying books is not only an attempt to prevent knowledge and understanding from spreading， it's about the sabotage of entire cultures and peoples。 That's why， when books by Jews and other 'undesirables' like Communists and those accused of homosexuality were burned by the Nazis， the significance was immense。 Here was an attempt at erasure， a cultural genocide。 There are also other ways to harm the spread of knowledge。 Take the writer， Franz Kafka， who didn't manage to sell his works before he died。 In fact， he had asked a friend to destroy all his writing after his death。 Luckily， his friend capitulated and， posthumously， Kafka became enshrined in the history books for famous novels like "The Trial" and "Metamorphosis"。 But， was this an ethical decision？Ovenden also discusses the danger of digitisation of knowledge such as issues around privacy but also how （un）safe this information is from destruction。 There's a need for example， to archive all websites so the knowledge isn't lost when someone decides to lets their web hosting lapse， for example。 This means plenty of funding and support for libraries， which have been subject to budgets cuts around the world for years。 I found this book fascinating。 I'm a sucker for books about books。 Usually， that's in fiction but when I saw the title of this one， I knew I had to read it。 For those who'd love to know more about why libraries and the preservation of knowledge is so important。 。。。more

A。J。 ，

Some interesting pieces of information， particularly about the decay of the Library of Alexandria， and the fact that the Stasi collected body odour and sweat samples （ewwwww）。 But I honestly got bored of all the Bodley-bragging and pleas for funding from the man in charge of one of the best-funded libraries in the world。 Richard Ovenden talked about the repatriation of materials obtained through colonization， but he failed to give any firm plans for returning any items from his institution to fo Some interesting pieces of information， particularly about the decay of the Library of Alexandria， and the fact that the Stasi collected body odour and sweat samples （ewwwww）。 But I honestly got bored of all the Bodley-bragging and pleas for funding from the man in charge of one of the best-funded libraries in the world。 Richard Ovenden talked about the repatriation of materials obtained through colonization， but he failed to give any firm plans for returning any items from his institution to former colonies or former owners。 。。。more

Brian Harrison ，

A fascinating and important book， for anyone who has a passion for the printed word。 Bodleian Librarian Richard Ovenden charts the often uncertain history of the recorded word， the past destruction of entire libraries， and those who often risked - and at times lost their lives to rescue historic documents and books from the ravages of the mob。From the perspective of the past to the potential pitfalls of the present digital age， he considers the many issues confronting librarians and custodians o A fascinating and important book， for anyone who has a passion for the printed word。 Bodleian Librarian Richard Ovenden charts the often uncertain history of the recorded word， the past destruction of entire libraries， and those who often risked - and at times lost their lives to rescue historic documents and books from the ravages of the mob。From the perspective of the past to the potential pitfalls of the present digital age， he considers the many issues confronting librarians and custodians of knowledge， the benefits and risks as an ever expanding volume of world information passes from public to corporate ownership。Brilliantly written，superbly researched and thoroughly thought provoking， a must have volume for any serious library。 。。。more

Lindsay ，

It was interesting but I had learned quite a lot of this in introductory grad classes in information studies。 On the plus side I learned how to pronounce Bodleian and enjoyed the English narrator’s effort to say “Indiana" as if it were quite a posh name。 It was interesting but I had learned quite a lot of this in introductory grad classes in information studies。 On the plus side I learned how to pronounce Bodleian and enjoyed the English narrator’s effort to say “Indiana" as if it were quite a posh name。 。。。more

Richard Smith ，

Ovenden shows clearly how knowledge is vulnerable and makes a strong case for investing in libraries。 He’s also written an entertaining book， which， as you would expect from a librarian， draws from a huge range of sources and tells many good stories。My blog on the book:https://richardswsmith。wordpress。com/。。。 Ovenden shows clearly how knowledge is vulnerable and makes a strong case for investing in libraries。 He’s also written an entertaining book， which， as you would expect from a librarian， draws from a huge range of sources and tells many good stories。My blog on the book:https://richardswsmith。wordpress。com/。。。 。。。more

Karalee ，

The title is a bit misleading， this book is about the history of libraries and the preservation of books and archives。 I found that to be quite an interesting topic。 However， if you are looking for a book that goes into depth about book burning or even censorship this probably isn't the book for you。 The title is a bit misleading， this book is about the history of libraries and the preservation of books and archives。 I found that to be quite an interesting topic。 However， if you are looking for a book that goes into depth about book burning or even censorship this probably isn't the book for you。 。。。more

Michelle ，

An interesting read on the history of libraries and their destruction as an act of war

Elsbeth Kwant ，

A strong and erudite book。 Richard Ovenden， Bodley's 25th Librarian， writes the story of knowledge， it's vulnerability， and the role of librarians and archivists in preserving it。 He writes about libraries and archives。 In a number of case studies he describes the building up of famous collections， and also their destruction or loss。 No easy stories and ranging centuries and countries。 I was most impressed by the history of the National Library of Bosnia， destroyed in the Balkan conflict。 That s A strong and erudite book。 Richard Ovenden， Bodley's 25th Librarian， writes the story of knowledge， it's vulnerability， and the role of librarians and archivists in preserving it。 He writes about libraries and archives。 In a number of case studies he describes the building up of famous collections， and also their destruction or loss。 No easy stories and ranging centuries and countries。 I was most impressed by the history of the National Library of Bosnia， destroyed in the Balkan conflict。 That snipers picked of librarians and firefighters trying to save the library was an image I had not registered。 Their courage: 'Because I was born here and they are burning a part of me'。 And that links to the role libraries and archives play in healing or coming to terms with a broken past: in South-Africa， colonial records and more recently in Iraq。But other stories resonated too: Sappho was mentioned by more of her contemporaries than words of her own survived。 In the transition from papyrus to parchment， her poetry was lost。 And other vignettes are very worth reading: Leland who travelled the British Isles in name of Henry VIII， the destruction of the Library of Congress by the British in 1812 and the Library of Louvain by the Germans twice。 He adresses the digital challenges， the role of 'private superpowers'， the challenge of preserving social media （Twitter proving to large for even the Library of Congress）。 Well worth reading。 。。。more

Catie ，

This was a really interesting look into different ways knowledge has been destroyed （and that people have tried to preserve it） over the years。 There’s a lot in here and it raises a lot of different questions， and scenarios， that it doesn’t always have time to address。 I felt like there were a couple of things it could have addressed- like if archives can be created as means of oppression or to consolidate power is destruction sometimes warranted？ How about when dealing with the deluge of digita This was a really interesting look into different ways knowledge has been destroyed （and that people have tried to preserve it） over the years。 There’s a lot in here and it raises a lot of different questions， and scenarios， that it doesn’t always have time to address。 I felt like there were a couple of things it could have addressed- like if archives can be created as means of oppression or to consolidate power is destruction sometimes warranted？ How about when dealing with the deluge of digital knowledge？ But for the most part it makes a good argument for the importance of preservation。There were also times when it all get a bit disparate， or like he was trying to cram in too many bits and pieces， but for the most part I enjoyed the journey and there was a good argument made at the end。 The main weakness I felt was that it did sometimes wear the authors job as Bodleian Librarian too heavily。 The collection sometimes added unique perspectives but the chapter in the Bodleian felt a bit much。 Overall though this was interesting and thought provoking and does make you want to go and investigate some of the stories further！ 。。。more

Katra ，

Wow， this history of enforced ignorance is disturbing and discouraging。 How can people be so willfully， so hatefully， stupid！ On the other hand， I have nothing but admiration for the librarians who have fought so valiantly other the millennia to preserve knowledge and truth。 Thanks for opening my eyes。

Richard Bull ，

Easy reading and thought provoking but somehow not completely pulled together for me。

Marc ，

I found the structure difficult to get my head around。 It often felt like an odd assortment of facts thrown together under themes that often overlap。 Not the easiest read as a result and I lost a good deal of enthusiasm。

Todd Bello ，

Very fascinating details on the sins of previous cultures

Ian Lea ，

Very interesting and more wide ranging than you'd know from the subtitle。 Lots about archiving and why it matters as well as about the attacks。 Very interesting and more wide ranging than you'd know from the subtitle。 Lots about archiving and why it matters as well as about the attacks。 。。。more

Michael Bellesiles ，

This book is much more than I expected。 Richard Ovenden delivers on the usual stories of tyrants and fools burning books—because that is what tyrants and fools do。 But Richard Ovenden goes further to explore the many ways in which knowledge can be damaged and destroyed by the forces of willful ignorance。 Ovenden is amazingly even-handed and non-judgmental。 Even the destruction of George Byron’s memoir by his executors and Philip Larkin’s burning of Sylvia Plath’s journals are treated fairly， wei This book is much more than I expected。 Richard Ovenden delivers on the usual stories of tyrants and fools burning books—because that is what tyrants and fools do。 But Richard Ovenden goes further to explore the many ways in which knowledge can be damaged and destroyed by the forces of willful ignorance。 Ovenden is amazingly even-handed and non-judgmental。 Even the destruction of George Byron’s memoir by his executors and Philip Larkin’s burning of Sylvia Plath’s journals are treated fairly， weighing public interests against rights to privacy。 But Ovenden does argue that there are reasonable compromises， for instance by securing documents for long periods in， say， Oxford’s Bodleian Library， of which Ovenden is the director。 As he observes， Larkin could have chosen to place Plath’s writings in a secure repository until long after everyone involved had died。 No one’s privacy would have been violated and future generations of scholars could have gained valuable insight to the life of an important writer。 But no， Larkin felt justified in destroying a cultural treasure because it might reflect poorly on him fifty years from now。 Ovenden contrasts the destruction of these valuable works with Max Brod’s decision to ignore Kafka’s instructions to destroy his manuscripts。 Thanks to Brod， the world gained three notable novels as well as Kafka’s diaries and letters。 There were many more examples Ovenden could have drawn upon， from the burning of George Washington’s romantic letters by his Martha and then of any compromising letters by his first editor to the unfortunate modern practice in the U。S。 of attempting to remove books from libraries because of their political position， outdated word choices， or violation of a strictly defined morality。These examples are generally individual decisions; it is the more global acts of literary terrorism which have done the most harm to intellectual life。 Most people know about the Nazi book-burnings and wholesale decimation of Jewish libraries， while many are aware of the several fires in the famous library in Alexandria。 But the world has largely forgotten the German decision to destroy the historic library in Louvain， Belgium， in 1914; a gratuitous act of intellectual terrorism intended to punish Belgium for resisting the German invasion of their country。 Most people have never heard of the deliberate Serbian destruction of the Bosnian National Library in Sarajevo in 1992。 The Serbs went beyond ethnic cleansing to attempt to remove all evidence that Muslims had ever lived in the area。 Noel Malcolm summarized these crimes in a way that applies to all these examples of book burning: “The people who organized such acts were attempting， in the most literal way， to erase history。” In the book’s saddest line， Ovenden writes of the burning of the Sarajevo library， “The front pages of the world’s newspapers didn’t even carry the story。” （158） Ovenden ends his book with a fascinating analysis of the major flaws in tech companies as storage systems。 He reminds us of the willingness of these tech superpowers to unilaterally eliminate archives that no longer serve a purpose for them。 As Ovenden writes， these tech companies “have no public benefit mission， and any knowledge that they store is kept only to support their commercial operations。” （200） The web is an archive that is constantly burning its own books。 Ovenden provides the example of pro-Brexit materials being deliberately removed from the web so that no one can go back and compare what the Brexiters promised to what they did once they won （e。g。， remember the pledge to spend £350 million a week on the National Health Service？）。 The fragility of the web as an archival venue was demonstrated back in 2007 by a team of Harvard scholars who found that more than half of the URLs referenced by the U。S。 Supreme Court had suffered from “linkrot” and were unavailable。 As the Cambridge Analytica scandal demonstrated， all the data gathered by tech companies exist to feed their profits， and they are more than willing to use that data to manipulate us to their further benefit。 Leave it to a blind author to remind us that hope keeps us going in the face of these horrible acts of wanton destruction。 In a public letter to the Nazi book burners， Helen Keller wrote， “You can burn my books and the books of the best minds in Europe， but the ideas in them have seeped through a million channels and will continue to quicken other minds。” （120） Let us hope she is right。 。。。more

Kara Thomas ，

I really wanted to like this book; it is such an interesting and important topic， but it was so dry。 A world and centuries of history condensed down to 233 pages。 I found myself falling asleep quite often。 There were really good parts， but I slogged through it。

Abunoor Alfarsi ，

（ريتشارد أوفندن） هو أمين مكتبة （البودلين） -وهي المكتبة البحثية الرئيسية في جامعة أكسفورد، وأحد أقدم المكتبات في أوربا، وثاني أكبر مكتبة في （بريطانيا） بعد المكتبة البريطانية-، حيث يروي لنا في كتابه هذا الذي صدر حديثاً قصة الهجوم على المعرفة من خلال إحراق الكتب وتدمير المكتبات، فينقل لنا التاريخ الطويل الذي أحدثه تدمير المكتبات ودور المحفوظات والسجلات على المجتمعات والإنسانية جمعاء، ويؤكد أن الهجوم ما زال مستمراً ولم يتوقف، عن طريق حرمان المكتبات من التمويل التي تحتاج إليه لكي تستمر، مما يجعل هذه （ريتشارد أوفندن） هو أمين مكتبة （البودلين） -وهي المكتبة البحثية الرئيسية في جامعة أكسفورد، وأحد أقدم المكتبات في أوربا، وثاني أكبر مكتبة في （بريطانيا） بعد المكتبة البريطانية-، حيث يروي لنا في كتابه هذا الذي صدر حديثاً قصة الهجوم على المعرفة من خلال إحراق الكتب وتدمير المكتبات، فينقل لنا التاريخ الطويل الذي أحدثه تدمير المكتبات ودور المحفوظات والسجلات على المجتمعات والإنسانية جمعاء، ويؤكد أن الهجوم ما زال مستمراً ولم يتوقف، عن طريق حرمان المكتبات من التمويل التي تحتاج إليه لكي تستمر، مما يجعل هذه المكتبات تُكافح بصعوبة。كتاب مؤلم جداً، فحين تقرأ عدد الكتب التي تم حرقها في الحروب، كإحراق الصرب للمكتبة الوطنية الموجودة في العاصمة （سرايفيو） والتي تحوي على مليون ونصف كتاب！ أو تدمير وسرق مكتبات العراق خلال الحرب التي شنتها （أمريكا） في عام ٢٠٠٣م، وغيرها الكثير。كما تقرأ في الكتاب كيف أُحرقت كثير من مسودات كُتّاب عظام بعد وفاتهم！ كما حدث لـ （فيليب لاركين） و（بايرون） على سبيل المثال。كتاب مليء بالحقائق والقصص المؤلمة في إحراق وتدمير الكتب والمكتبات والمسودات والسجلات。23。01。2021 。。。more

David Cutler ，

I have been struggling with why this didn’t get four stars as it is an important and under explored topic and there a lot of very interesting episodes in the book。 I think that it’s tone is a little hard to pin down。 It isn’t really academic and he is trying to be more journalistic but somehow the author lacks the storytelling flair for that approach to really work。 I usually like chronological approaches but perhaps a global history in a short space is asking too much。 It feels a bit of a rag b I have been struggling with why this didn’t get four stars as it is an important and under explored topic and there a lot of very interesting episodes in the book。 I think that it’s tone is a little hard to pin down。 It isn’t really academic and he is trying to be more journalistic but somehow the author lacks the storytelling flair for that approach to really work。 I usually like chronological approaches but perhaps a global history in a short space is asking too much。 It feels a bit of a rag bag trying to focus on interesting characters like John Leland perhaps driven mad as a natural librarian but responsible for their ransacking under Henry VIII or Kenan Makiya and the Ba’ath party files but it doesn’t quite hang together。And I wish it had been more of a polemic。 The questions Ovenden raises about libraries in an age of dominant internet platforms are profoundly important， but it is not his natural register。 。。。more

Ashley （Red-Haired Ash Reads） ，

Rating: 3 stars - I liked itIn this book， Richard Ovenden， Director of the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford， describes the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria till now。 While I expected this book to only talk about the destruction throughout history， the title is slightly misleading。 This book spends more time discussing the preservation and organization of collections and how they can be at risk using the destruction of certain libraries and co Rating: 3 stars - I liked itIn this book， Richard Ovenden， Director of the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford， describes the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria till now。 While I expected this book to only talk about the destruction throughout history， the title is slightly misleading。 This book spends more time discussing the preservation and organization of collections and how they can be at risk using the destruction of certain libraries and collections as examples， especially cultural documents to minority groups。 While the title is misleading， I did learn a lot of interesting facts about the destruction of libraries and collections that， most of which， were new to me。 As an archivist myself I am always fascinated by why collections were destroyed and what can be done to prevent that from happening to collections now。 This book also spends a lot of time discussing digital archiving and the problems related to it， which while interesting， it felt was unnecessary for this book because this book should have been just about destruction of collections。 The biggest issue with this book though was the writing style。 It was chaotic。 Some chapters felt all over the place with information about different collections while trying to get the point of that chapter across。 This made it hard at times to understand how it all related together and what the point of some chapters really were。 Also I know the author is Director of the Bodleian but it felt like he used any excuse to reference it and its collections throughout this book。 So while I did learn a lot from this book， it wasn’t exactly a fun read。 I don’t regret reading it， I did learn a lot like I said， I just think the title of this book is misleading and people need to be prepared for that。 You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads。 。。。more

Lyndsey ，

I really enjoyed this book。 Meticulously researched and a valuable topic considering the current climate of mistrust in knowledge and information。 Would highly recommend to any bibliophile， archivist， and librarian。

Morgan ，

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 KafkaChapter 8 - The Paper Brig 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 KafkaChapter 8 - The Paper BrigadeChapter 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。 。。。more

Peter Burton ，

A good in-depth survey of the destruction， selective survival and uses of books from ancient Mesopotamia to our digital world。I was particularly interested in the chapters on the damage done by the Reformation on monastic libraries，the destruction of Lord Byron’s memoir（ to preserve his reputation from further damage， perhaps to continue to make money for his estate），the destruction of the Congress library in the US in 1812 by British troops， the destruction of the Library at Louvain in 1914， bo A good in-depth survey of the destruction， selective survival and uses of books from ancient Mesopotamia to our digital world。I was particularly interested in the chapters on the damage done by the Reformation on monastic libraries，the destruction of Lord Byron’s memoir（ to preserve his reputation from further damage， perhaps to continue to make money for his estate），the destruction of the Congress library in the US in 1812 by British troops， the destruction of the Library at Louvain in 1914， book burning in Nazi Germany， and the more recent destruction of libraries in Sarajevo and Iraq。Interested too in the various theories about the burning of the library at Alexandria - not done by Caesar。 All show the irreparable loss to the world of books now only known by their name， if at all。The last chapters look at the dangers of digitisation and the enduring use of libraries。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Quemar libros: Una historia de la destrucción deliberada del conocimiento

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Quemar libros: Una historia de la destrucción deliberada del conocimiento&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Quemar libros: Una historia de la destrucción deliberada del conocimiento&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0