num_pages: 272
description: A best-seller in Spain Mexico Venezuela Argentina and the first-ever world history of the destruction of books.A product of ten years of research and support from leading American and European universities A Universal History of the Destruction of Books traces a tragic the smashed tablets of ancient Sumer the widespread looting of libraries in post-war Iraq the leveling of the Library of Alexandria book burnings by Crusaders and Nazis and censorship against authors past and present.With diligence and grace Bez mounts a compelling investigation into the motives behind the destruction of books reading man's violence against writing as a perverse anti-creation. By destroying Bez argues man ratifies this ritual of permanence purification and consecration; by destroying man brings to the surface a behavior originating in the depth of his personality. His findings ultimately attest to the lasting power of books as the great human repository of knowledge and memory fragile yet vital bulwarks against the intransigence and barbarity of every age.
language: English
title: A Universal History of the Destruction of Books: From Ancient Sumer to Modern-day Iraq
publisher: Atlas & Co.