Burning Books - by M Fishburn (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This provocative new work examines the years between the Nazi book fires and the publication of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (1953), a period when book burning captured the popular imagination. It explores how embedded the myths of book burning have become in our cultural history, and illustrates the enduring appeal of a great cleansing bonfire.

Review Quotes

'Matthew Fishburn offers an original and often disturbing perspective on a dark chapter in literary history. He has a genius for drawing unexpected connections and he writes with the kind of elegance that was long ago banished from most academic books.' - Professor Jonathan Rose, author of The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes and editor of The Holocaust and the Book

'A fascinating chronicle. What makes Burning Books so impressive is the author's going well beyond the usual instances.' - John Sutherland, The Times

'The book is supported by an excellent bibliography and notes, and there is a fine selection of reproduced posters, cartoons and photographs which enhance the value of the text.' - John Crawford, Library and Information History

About the Author

MATTHEW FISHBURN is a bookseller with Hordern House Rare Books in Sydney, Australia. He has taught at the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney. Together with Mark Tewfik, he is currently working on a book investigating the graffiti written on bombs during the Second World War. This is his first book.