Book Review of
Library
Through the ages, libraries have not only accumulated and preserved but also shaped, inspired, and obliterated knowledge. Now they are in crisis. Former rare books librarian and Harvard metaLAB visionary Matthew Battles takes us from Boston to Baghdad, from classical scriptoria to medieval monasteries and on to the Information Age, to explore how libraries are built and how they are destroyed: from the scroll burnings in ancient China to the burning of libraries in Europe and Bosnia to the latest revolutionary upheavals of the digital age. A new afterword elucidates how knowledge is preserved amid the creative destruction of twenty-first-century technology.
Lynn's Review
Library: An Unquiet History was published in 2003. It is a nonfiction book that shares the history of libraries.
This book combines history and literature. It covers ancient libraries and modern ones. Libraries may have changed over the centuries, but books and learning have always been at the core of them.
Library was a bit dry and textbook-like in some sections, but I learned so much about the history of libraries and books. It was a very informative read for me. If you love learning about books and the history of them, you will probably enjoy this one.