-
Burning the Books
- A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Categories: History, World
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $13.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
A World Beneath the Sands
- The Golden Age of Egyptology
- By: Toby Wilkinson
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 11
In A World Beneath the Sands, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson chronicles the ruthless race between the British, French, Germans, and Americans to lay claim to its mysteries and treasures. He tells riveting stories of the men and women whose obsession with Egypt’s ancient civilization helped to enrich and transform our understanding of the Nile Valley and its people and left a lasting impression on Egypt, too.
By: Toby Wilkinson
-
If Then
- How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future
- By: Jill Lepore
- Narrated by: Jill Lepore
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
The Simulmatics Corporation, founded in 1959, mined data, targeted voters, accelerated news, manipulated consumers, destabilized politics, and disordered knowledge - decades before Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Cambridge Analytica. Silicon Valley likes to imagine that it has no past, but the scientists of Simulmatics are the long-dead grandfathers of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Borrowing from psychological warfare, they used computers to predict and direct human behavior, deploying their “People Machine” from New York, Cambridge, and Saigon.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
?
- By Andrew Weymouth on 01-03-21
By: Jill Lepore
-
First Principles
- What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country
- By: Thomas E. Ricks
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 206
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 183
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and number one New York Times best-selling author offers a revelatory new book about the founding fathers, examining their educations and, in particular, their devotion to the ancient Greek and Roman classics - and how that influence would shape their ideals and the new American nation.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
typical academic bloviation - unworthy time suck
- By paul smith on 11-17-20
By: Thomas E. Ricks
-
The Medici
- Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 895
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 794
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 788
Against the background of an age that saw the rebirth of ancient and classical learning, Paul Strathern explores the intensely dramatic rise and fall of the Medici family in Florence as well as the Italian Renaissance, which they did so much to sponsor and encourage. Interwoven into the narrative are the lives of many of the great Renaissance artists with whom the Medici had dealings, including Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello as well as scientists like Galileo and Pico della Mirandola.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An Intriguing Lens on the Renaissance
- By Matt Turner on 04-17-16
By: Paul Strathern
-
Apollo's Arrow
- The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live
- By: Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD
- Narrated by: Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 297
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 264
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 263
Apollo's Arrow offers a riveting account of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as it swept through American society in 2020 and of how the recovery will unfold in the coming years. Drawing on momentous (yet dimly remembered) historical epidemics, contemporary analyses, and cutting-edge research from a range of scientific disciplines, Nicholas A. Christakis explores what it means to live in a time of plague - an experience that is paradoxically uncommon to the vast majority of humans who are alive yet deeply fundamental to our species.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic Read!
- By Paris Holliday on 11-17-20
-
Galileo
- And the Science Deniers
- By: Mario Livio
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 187
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 159
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 159
Astrophysicist and best-selling author Mario Livio draws on his own scientific expertise to provide captivating insights into how Galileo reached his bold new conclusions about the cosmos and the laws of nature. A freethinker who followed the evidence wherever it led him, Galileo was one of the most significant figures behind the scientific revolution. He believed that every educated person should know science as well as literature, and insisted on reaching the widest audience possible, publishing his books in Italian rather than Latin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Galileo through the mind of Mario Livio
- By Rick B on 06-09-20
By: Mario Livio
-
A World Beneath the Sands
- The Golden Age of Egyptology
- By: Toby Wilkinson
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 11
In A World Beneath the Sands, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson chronicles the ruthless race between the British, French, Germans, and Americans to lay claim to its mysteries and treasures. He tells riveting stories of the men and women whose obsession with Egypt’s ancient civilization helped to enrich and transform our understanding of the Nile Valley and its people and left a lasting impression on Egypt, too.
By: Toby Wilkinson
-
If Then
- How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future
- By: Jill Lepore
- Narrated by: Jill Lepore
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
The Simulmatics Corporation, founded in 1959, mined data, targeted voters, accelerated news, manipulated consumers, destabilized politics, and disordered knowledge - decades before Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Cambridge Analytica. Silicon Valley likes to imagine that it has no past, but the scientists of Simulmatics are the long-dead grandfathers of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Borrowing from psychological warfare, they used computers to predict and direct human behavior, deploying their “People Machine” from New York, Cambridge, and Saigon.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
?
- By Andrew Weymouth on 01-03-21
By: Jill Lepore
-
First Principles
- What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country
- By: Thomas E. Ricks
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 206
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 183
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and number one New York Times best-selling author offers a revelatory new book about the founding fathers, examining their educations and, in particular, their devotion to the ancient Greek and Roman classics - and how that influence would shape their ideals and the new American nation.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
typical academic bloviation - unworthy time suck
- By paul smith on 11-17-20
By: Thomas E. Ricks
-
The Medici
- Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 895
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 794
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 788
Against the background of an age that saw the rebirth of ancient and classical learning, Paul Strathern explores the intensely dramatic rise and fall of the Medici family in Florence as well as the Italian Renaissance, which they did so much to sponsor and encourage. Interwoven into the narrative are the lives of many of the great Renaissance artists with whom the Medici had dealings, including Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello as well as scientists like Galileo and Pico della Mirandola.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An Intriguing Lens on the Renaissance
- By Matt Turner on 04-17-16
By: Paul Strathern
-
Apollo's Arrow
- The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live
- By: Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD
- Narrated by: Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 297
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 264
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 263
Apollo's Arrow offers a riveting account of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as it swept through American society in 2020 and of how the recovery will unfold in the coming years. Drawing on momentous (yet dimly remembered) historical epidemics, contemporary analyses, and cutting-edge research from a range of scientific disciplines, Nicholas A. Christakis explores what it means to live in a time of plague - an experience that is paradoxically uncommon to the vast majority of humans who are alive yet deeply fundamental to our species.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic Read!
- By Paris Holliday on 11-17-20
-
Galileo
- And the Science Deniers
- By: Mario Livio
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 187
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 159
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 159
Astrophysicist and best-selling author Mario Livio draws on his own scientific expertise to provide captivating insights into how Galileo reached his bold new conclusions about the cosmos and the laws of nature. A freethinker who followed the evidence wherever it led him, Galileo was one of the most significant figures behind the scientific revolution. He believed that every educated person should know science as well as literature, and insisted on reaching the widest audience possible, publishing his books in Italian rather than Latin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Galileo through the mind of Mario Livio
- By Rick B on 06-09-20
By: Mario Livio
-
Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World
- By: Fareed Zakaria
- Narrated by: Fareed Zakaria
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 616
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 534
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 526
Lenin once said, “There are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen.” This is one of those times when history has sped up. CNN host and best-selling author Fareed Zakaria helps listeners to understand the nature of a post-pandemic world: the political, social, technological, and economic impacts that may take years to unfold. In the form of 10 straightforward “lessons”, covering topics from globalization and threat-preparedness to inequality and technological advancement, Zakaria creates a structure for listeners to begin thinking beyond COVID-19.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
SADLY HOPEFUL
- By Frances J. Freeman on 10-11-20
By: Fareed Zakaria
-
Children of Ash and Elm
- A History of the Vikings
- By: Neil Price
- Narrated by: Samuel Roukin
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 162
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 140
The Viking Age - from 750 to 1050 saw an unprecedented expansion of the Scandinavian peoples into the wider world. As traders and raiders, explorers and colonists, they ranged from eastern North America to the Asian steppe. But for centuries, the Vikings have been seen through the eyes of others, distorted to suit the tastes of medieval clerics and Elizabethan playwrights, Victorian imperialists, Nazis, and more. None of these appropriations capture the real Vikings, or the richness and sophistication of their culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is the Viking history I've been wanting...
- By DT Campbell on 09-11-20
By: Neil Price
-
Washington's End
- The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle
- By: Jonathan Horn
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 230
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 200
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 197
Washington’s End begins where most biographies of George Washington leave off, with the first president exiting office after eight years and entering what would become the most bewildering stage of his life. Embittered by partisan criticism and eager to return to his farm, Washington assumed a role for which there was no precedent at a time when the kings across the ocean yielded their crowns only upon losing their heads. In a different sense, Washington would lose his head, too.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
INTRIGUING SNAPSHOT
- By JPALJ on 02-23-20
By: Jonathan Horn
-
Our Malady
- Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary
- By: Timothy Snyder
- Narrated by: Timothy Snyder
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 105
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 105
From the author of the number-one New York Times best seller On Tyranny comes an impassioned condemnation of America's pandemic response and an urgent call to rethink health and freedom.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Our Medical System Flayed
- By J.B. on 09-08-20
By: Timothy Snyder
-
Where Law Ends
- Inside the Mueller Investigation
- By: Andrew Weissmann
- Narrated by: George Newbern, Andrew Weissmann
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 439
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 396
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 394
In the first and only inside account of the Mueller investigation, one of the special counsel’s most trusted prosecutors breaks his silence on the team’s history-making search for the truth, their painstaking deliberations and costly mistakes, and Trump’s unprecedented efforts to stifle their report.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Investigative Theories
- By J.B. on 09-30-20
By: Andrew Weissmann
-
Piranesi
- By: Susanna Clarke
- Narrated by: Chiwetel Ejiofor
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,101
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 980
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 976
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell transported countless listeners into its mysterious world. It became an instant classic and has been hailed as one of the finest works of fiction of the 21st century. Fifteen years later, it is finally time to enter the House and meet Piranesi. May your paths be safe and your floors unbroken, and may the house fill your eyes with Beauty.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Strange & Pointless
- By Mark on 09-17-20
By: Susanna Clarke
-
Fantasyland
- How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History
- By: Kurt Andersen
- Narrated by: Kurt Andersen
- Length: 19 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,305
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,044
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,026
A razor-sharp thinker offers a new understanding of our post-truth world and explains the American instinct to believe in make-believe, from the Pilgrims to P. T. Barnum to Disneyland to zealots of every stripe...to Donald Trump. In this sweeping, eloquent history of America, Kurt Andersen demonstrates that what's happening in our country today - this strange, post-factual, "fake news" moment we're all living through - is not something entirely new, but rather the ultimate expression of our national character and path.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book, but...
- By Synthpulse on 11-15-17
By: Kurt Andersen
-
The Year 1000
- When Explorers Connected the World - and Globalization Began
- By: Valerie Hansen
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 357
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 306
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 302
People often believe that the years immediately prior to AD 1000 were, with just a few exceptions, lacking in any major cultural developments or geopolitical encounters, that the Europeans hadn’t yet reached North America, and that the farthest feat of sea travel was the Vikings’ invasion of Britain. But how, then, to explain the presence of blonde-haired people in Maya temple murals at Chichén Itzá, Mexico? Could it be possible that the Vikings had found their way to the Americas during the height of the Maya empire?
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Long on Speculation, Short on Evidence
- By Phyllis on 10-10-20
By: Valerie Hansen
-
The Deficit Myth
- Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy
- By: Stephanie Kelton
- Narrated by: Stephanie Kelton
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 645
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 553
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 546
Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creating jobs, expanding health care coverage, climate change, and building resilient infrastructure. Any ambitious proposal, however, inevitably runs into the buzz saw of how to find the money to pay for it, rooted in myths about deficits that are hobbling us as a country.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good core idea, ruined by polemics
- By John on 06-25-20
By: Stephanie Kelton
-
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 644
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 572
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 575
Tom Wolfe - one of the 20th century’s foremost voices in cultural criticism - went from local news reporter to international icon in 1968, with the publication of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Now voiced with vivacity and vigor by Audible Hall of Fame narrator Luke Daniels, the non-fiction swan-dive delves into the world of hippies, hedonism, and everything in between.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Extremely well-narrated
- By JE on 03-29-19
By: Tom Wolfe
-
Twilight of Democracy
- The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 874
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 751
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 746
From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Modern Dictators & President who wants to be them
- By AJ on 07-23-20
By: Anne Applebaum
-
Uncanny Valley
- A Memoir
- By: Anna Wiener
- Narrated by: Suehyla El-Attar
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 533
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 464
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 463
In her mid-20s, at the height of tech industry idealism, Anna Wiener - stuck, broke, and looking for meaning in her work, like any good millennial - left a job in book publishing for the promise of the new digital economy. She moved from New York to San Francisco, where she landed at a big-data startup in the heart of the Silicon Valley bubble: A world of surreal extravagance, dubious success, and fresh-faced entrepreneurs hell-bent on domination, glory, and, of course, progress.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Could have been better
- By R. Herz on 01-20-20
By: Anna Wiener
Publisher's Summary
In Burning the Books, Richard Ovenden describes the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria to contemporary Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets in Iraq to the destroyed immigration documents of the UK Windrush generation. He examines both the motivations for these acts and the broader themes that shape this history. He also looks at attempts to prevent and mitigate attacks on knowledge, exploring the efforts of librarians and archivists to preserve information, often risking their own lives in the process.
More than simply repositories for knowledge, libraries and archives inspire and inform citizens. In preserving notions of statehood recorded in such historical documents as the Declaration of Independence, libraries support the state itself. By preserving records of citizenship and records of the rights of citizens as enshrined in legal documents such as the Magna Carta and the decisions of the US Supreme Court, they support the rule of law. In this book, Ovenden takes a polemical stance on the social and political importance of the conservation and protection of knowledge, challenging governments in particular, but also society as a whole, to improve public policy and funding for these essential institutions.