Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge Under Attack
by Richard Ovenden
Knowledge was always the target.
For you if
you want to understand why banning books is never about protecting anyone
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Richard Ovenden, head librarian at the Bodleian, maps the history of deliberate knowledge destruction — not as accident, but as strategy. Governments, corporations, armies, and ideologues have systematically targeted libraries and archives precisely because they understand what recorded knowledge does: it holds power accountable across time. Ovenden traces this pattern from ancient Alexandria to Nazi Germany to modern digital erasure, building an argument so clear it becomes uncomfortable. This book names the machine before you do anything else with it.
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