Preface Introducing Modern Biblioclasm Tracing the Path of Extremism From Robespierre to Milosevic Grappling for Voice and Power Political Protestors and Amsterdam's South African Institute, 1984 Ethnic Biblioclasm, 1980-2005 Absolute Power and the Drive to Purify Society National Socialism and the Destruction of Berlin's Institute for Sexual Knowledge, 1933 Secular Fanaticism and the Auto-Genocide of Cambodia, 1975-1979 Fundamentalism and the Destruction of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage, 1994-2001 War, Power Vacuum, and Anarchy Dueling Ideologies and Total War, 1939-1945 Anarchy and Acquisitive Vandalism, 1967-2003 Errors of Omission and Cultural Destruction in Iraq, 2003 Index
Following her analysis of officially sanctioned destruction of books and libraries in Libricide, Knuth now turns to the broader problem of extremists' attacks on intellectual heritage committed in the name of political, religious, or social causes.
REBECCA KNUTH is Chair of the Library and Information Science Program at the University of Hawaii, where she is also Associate Professor.
Knuth has written a powerful, thought-provoking book to expand on
her first book, Libricide (2003). She lays the groundwork by
defining extremist behavior, destruction, and biblioclasm, in the
historical and modern contexts. This book is divided into three
parts. Each focuses on different aspects of power: at local levels,
as part of totalitarian regimes, and as a result of grabs for
power. Knuth examines the relative role of power and how
biblioclasm is used as a means to gain attention, force beliefs, or
hegemonize societies. The book presents in-depth analysis through a
combination of actual cases, background information, and theory.
Most eye-opening is the chapter on the invasion of Iraq and the
irresponsible actions of the Bush administration, which resulted in
the looting and destruction of centuries' worth of cultural and
historical artifacts. Each chapter has significant bibliographic
citations that reflect excellent research in the author's
preparation for this book….Recommended. Upper-division
undergraduates and above.
*Choice*
Burning Books and Leveling Libraries is an important study for
political leaders around the world, for library association
officials, for political scientists, and for all persons seriously
interested in the preservation of the world's cultural,
intellectual, and artistic heritage.
*Journal of Information Ethics*
Written in academic style, the book is a thorough look at the topic
of library destruction. This book would be an excellent discussion
tool for those who are concerned about intellectual freedom. This
is not a read for the faint of heart. This book sounds the clarion
call to protect our libraries and our books in any way we possibly
can. This is a must read for all professional librarians, museum
curators and cultural center directors
*Colorado Association of Libraries*
Drawing persuasively from history, political science, and social
theory, Knuth creates a challenging and forceful framework for
understanding violence against books and libraries. Knuth balances
the rigor of her scholarship and the weight of her subject matter
with an engaging, accessible style, creating a work deserving the
attention of any educated reader interested in intellectual freedom
or political extremism.
*Oklahoma Librarian*
This carefully researched volume is a sobering investigation of how
in one century's time the world has lost extraordinary amounts of
recorded human heritage. While it is an excellent selection for any
LIS collection, its astounding breadth makes it an ideal
interdisciplinary reader for political science, history and
sociology collections. Strongly recommended for academic library
and larger public library collections.
*Journal of Access Services*
[A] recommended addition for academic libraries that support LIS
schools. Additionally, with its in-depth research and extensive
resources this book is a good complement to history and sociology
collections.
*Reference & User Services Quarterly*
Readers of this lucidly written, excellently organized, and
passionately argued book may never be able to view libraries the
same way again; libraries, the author demonstrates, are not just
information portals or storehouses of ideas, but something more
dangerous and often feared: they are battlefields….Knuth has so
succinctly summed up dozens of biblioclasm tragedies, so neatly and
agonizingly explained how politics, human psychology, and the heft
of history lead to such events, that it is hard to conceive that
they will not happen again. If policy makers read this book, a must
for all library schools and those concerned with the fate of
humankind and their culture, then we may very well be spared the
repeat of such destructive tragedies.
*College and Research Libraries*
[A] scholarly study of nationalist, ethnic, religious, or political
extremism taken to such lengths as to result in the wholesale
destruction of libraries as an all-out assault upon cultural values
the extremists despise. As Knuth shows, destruction of books goes
hand in hand with destruction of people. Burning Books And Leveling
Libraries especially focuses upon incidents of biblioclasm in the
late 20th and earth 21st century…. [K]nuth reveals that using
military might alone to advocate and enforce ideals is futile when
humanitarian, security, and cultural concerns are ignored. Deftly
researched and bitingly exact in its portrayal of extremist
psychology and its terrible consequences, Burning Books And
Leveling Libraries is highly recommended, as is Knuth's previous
study in the field, Libricide.
*MBR: The Bookwatch*
[F]or as long as libraries seem worth building and maintaining,
extremists will have a good material target, even if they are
thwarted by the likes of Google in their aim to erase the cultural
record.
*Academia*
In Burning Books and Leveling Libraries: Extremist Violence and
Cultural Destruction, Knuth documents how extremists of all
persuasions have destroyed books and libraries. She gives examples
where the destruction of books is used as a tactic of political or
ethnic protest, or as a result of power struggles and war, and
concludes with a discussion of the cultural destruction of Iraq in
2003.
*American Libraries*
Knuth reports on the destruction of libraries and books by
extremists around the world during the 20th century and
investigates some of the complex motivations behind these violent
acts. She first looks at the use of biblioclasm as a tactic of
political or ethnic protest at the local level. Next, she discusses
the purging of libraries in the aftermath of power struggles in
Germany, Afghanistan, and Cambodia. The final three chapters
consider the fate of libraries when war creates a power
vacuum--with special attention paid to the looting of Iraq's
cultural institutions in 2003.
*Reference & Research Book News*
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