Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge

Richard Ovenden and Vickery Bowles in conversation with Sharmila Sen.

In Burning the Books, Richard Ovenden, the chief librarian of the Bodleian in Oxford, charts 3000 years of neglect and literary vandalism in libraries across the world and the consequences for human culture and the sum of human knowledge. Beginning with the library of King Ashurbanipal of the Assyrian empire, he journeys us through continents and centuries as he tells us of the history of books and ideas, and the libraries that house them. Vickery Bowles, City Librarian at the Toronto Public Library, speaks of what needs to be done in terms of public policy and funding to nurture and sustain the library system. In conversation with author and Editorial Director of Harvard University Press Sharmila Sen, they explore the inner life of the libraries.

This episode is the audio version of a live online session from #JLFToronto2020.