The Library (eBook)

Excellent ... rigorous but riveting history

Outstanding ... a history of libraries from the ancient world to yesterday, it is fetchingly produced and scrupulously researched - a perfect gift for bibliophiles everywhere

This sweeping bookish history has something for everyone ... it is a glorious reminder that books are borderless and boundless and libraries priceless, in all senses

Libraries have had a long and varied history ... This globetrotting book charts their stories

A sweeping, absorbing history, deeply researched, of that extraordinary and enduring phenomenon: the library

Comprehensive without being miscellaneous, lively without being anecdotal, this sweeping history of libraries shows how central this institution has been to every aspect of human culture. At a time when libraries and librarians are proving themselves to be more important and more resilient than ever before, this whirlwind tour of the different forms that libraries have taken at different times and places will educate and inspire in equal measure.

[In] this superb history, filled with fascinating details that will delight every bibliophile, the authors tell the rich and varied history of libraries, from those that aspire to collect the sum of human knowledge to modest but valued personal collections

Despite [a] staggering range, the authors manage never to seem in a rush, or to skimp on incidental detail ... holding it all together is a keen eye for stories of individual lives that are representative of something larger ... [a] sweeping history

Timely ... a long and engrossing survey of the library that shows how adaptable and creative libraries have been over time

This history of the library, from the Assyrians to the digital age, is itself a wonderful collection of knowledge ... a book full of fascination and ultimately one of optimism, too

Magnificently researched and compendious