A review by vgk
The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen

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.