"This book identities the regime-sponsored, ideologically driven, and systemic destruction of books and libraries in the twentieth century that often served as a prelude or accompaniment to the massive human tragedies that have characterized a most violent century. Using case studies of libricide committed by Nazis, Serbs in Bosnia, Iraqis in Kuwait, Maoists during the Cultural Revolution in China, and Chinese Communists in Tibet, Knuth argues that the destruction of books and libraries by authoritarian regimes was sparked by the same impulses toward negation that provoked acts of genocide or ethnocide."--BOOK JACKET.

Books, libraries, and the phenomenon of ethnocide --The evolution and functions of libraries -- A theoretical framework for libricide -- Nazi Germany : racism and nationalism -- Greater Serbia -- Iraq, Kuwait, and the politics of thuggery -- China's cultural revolution -- Tibet : a culture in jeopardy -- The collision of ideas.