A review by colinandersbrodd
The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found by Violet Moller

5.0

I bought this a few months ago but didn't get around to reading it until now; it's quite timely, in fact, as I have been reminiscing about Leo Deuel's The Testaments of Time which is somewhat similar (though less exclusively focused on the period between the Fall of Rome and the Renaissance, with the transmission of Greek learning through the Arab World). Anyway, this book is an absolutely brilliant look at a "chain" of learning and texts through centers: Alexandria, Baghdad, Cordoba, Toledo, Salerno, Palermo, and Venice. The survival of the Republic of Letters was long a doubtful affair, and Violet Moller skillfully illustrates how the miracle of its endurance and eventual rise to flourishing was accomplished. Highly recommended to any book lover with an interest in the history of classical knowledge.