Books on Fire
The Tumultuous Story of the World's Great Libraries
Lucien X. Polastron
Translated by Jon E. Graham
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‘Teems with narrative detail … an enthralling and terrifying read … the story it tells – of the continuing reign of folly, ineptitude and unreason –
is a troubling and profoundly important one’ | | – The Economist |
| ‘Formidably scholarly but compellingly readable’ | | – Tribune |
This prizewinning book traces the tumultuous story of the world’s great libraries from the burning of the great library of Alexandria (three times) and the libraries of the Chinese Qing Dynasty to more modern catastrophic losses such as those in Nazi-occupied Europe and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
This book examines the causes for these disasters, the treasures that have been lost, and where the surviving books, if any, have ended up. It also reveals a new danger facing libraries today with the digitization of books threatening both the existence of the physical book. 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.
Lucien X. Polastron is a historian specializing in Chinese and Arab studies and has written several books on calligraphy as well as a monumental study of paper. He lives and works in Paris. Books on Fire received the prestigious 2004 Société des Gens de Lettres Prize for Nonfiction/History.
Also of interest:
Candida Höfer – Libraries
The Most Beautiful Libraries of the World
The Story of Writing: Alphabets |
|  |  | | | | ISBN 0500513848 | | ISBN-13 978-0500513842 | | | | 22.8 x 15.0 cm | | Quarter bound with jacket | | 384pp | | First published 2007 | | | | £18.95 | | | |  | | | | 
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