You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.0
I listened to the audiobook and I can tell you my eyes glazed over more than once. Very dry and the history is described in minute detail. It reads like a research paper. That being said, anything less than 4 stars is an insult because of its thoroughness.
If you want to get to more "recent" history (American colonies era), skip to chapter 13. It'll save you 8 hours of listening.
If you want to get to more "recent" history (American colonies era), skip to chapter 13. It'll save you 8 hours of listening.
fsuarez's review against another edition
Unfortunately, it wasn’t holding my interest. The later chapters seemed interesting, but it wasn’t pulling me in. I wasn’t excited to pick it back up and continue reading.
vgk's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
2.0
This book is many things, but a comprehensive history of the library it is not. My suspicion is that it began life as one (or possibly two) academic dissertations - perhaps on the history of books, perhaps on the history of church libraries - and in order to turn it into a supposed history of libraries, they tacked on a few sections about public libraries. Although I picked up a few interesting facts along the arduous, slow and pedantic way (if I never hear another word about church libraries through the ages I will be extremely relieved), I was starkly aware of entire swathes of public library history that was simply absent. As one example, how you can write 400-odd pages about libraries and only mention the Chartists once is entirely beyond me! If you want a readable and comprehensive history of actual libraries (rather than personal book collections), turn to Matthew Battles' 'Library: An Unquiet History' - a superior book in every respect.
jo_d's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Made me feel emotional about libraries and had interesting insights on what libraries were and what they could be