Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes or filled with bean bags and children's drawings- the history of the library is rich, varied and stuffed full of incident. In this, the first major history of its kind, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen explore the contested and dramatic history of the library, from the famous collections of the ancient world to the embattled public resources we cherish today. Along the way, they introduce us to the antiquarians and philanthropists who shaped the world's great collections, trace the rise and fall of fashions and tastes, and reveal the high crimes and misdemeanours committed in pursuit of rare and valuable manuscripts.

Part I: Inception and survival -- A confusion of scrolls -- Sanctuary -- Little monkeys and letters of gold -- Part 2: The crisis of print -- The infernal press -- Coming of age -- Reformations -- Part 3: The new collectors -- The professionals -- Idle books and riff raff -- Mission fields -- Part 4: Between public and private -- Grand designs -- Cardinal errors -- The antiquarians -- Part 5: Fictions -- Orderly minds -- Building empires -- Reading on the job -- Part 6: The war on books -- Surviving the Twentieth Century -- Wrestling with modernity -- Libraries, books and politics.