Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the Twentieth CenturyWhere they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings, declared German poet Heinrich Heine. This book identifies the regime-sponsored, ideologically driven, and systemic destruction of books and libraries in the 20th century that often served as a prelude or accompaniment to the massive human tragedies that have characterized a most violent century. Using case studies of libricide committed by Nazis, Serbs in Bosnia, Iraqis in Kuwait, Maoists during the Cultural Revolution in China, and Chinese Communists in Tibet, Knuth argues that the destruction of books and libraries by authoritarian regimes was sparked by the same impulses toward negation that provoked acts of genocide or ethnocide. |
References to this book
História universal da destruição dos livros: das tábuas sumérias à guerra do ... Fernando Báez No preview available - 2006 |
Purify and Destroy: The Political Uses of Massacre and Genocide Jacques Sémelin No preview available - 2007 |