Reviews
"Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge" by Richard Ovenden: Review by Alyssa Gluf
Published 2026-10-21
How to Cite
Gluf, A. (2026). "Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge" by Richard Ovenden: Review by Alyssa Gluf. GW Journal of Ethics in Publishing, 4(1), 131–32. Retrieved from https://gwjep.org/index.php/gwjep/article/view/52
Abstract
Throughout history, humans have demonstrated a consistent pattern of destroying knowledge. Libraries and books have been razed by enemy armies, clay tablets reused to repair buildings, facts quietly edited out of Wikipedia articles.
This recurring theme in civilization raises a critical question: why is the destruction of knowledge so persistent across time?