The Award-Winning Book 'Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge' by Richard Ovenden

The publication of this book coincided symbolically with one of the darkest moments in the recent history of Ukrainian publishing. In August 2026, a Russian missile strike destroyed the warehouse of the Ukrainian publishing house Ranok, reducing more than 8 million books to ashes. In doing so, Russia continues the very practice this book documents — the deliberate destruction of knowledge, memory, and culture.

Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge by Richard Ovenden was named among the Best Books of the Year in the United Kingdom and was shortlisted for the prestigious Wolfson History Prize. Tracing the destruction of books from the Library of Alexandria to Nazi book burnings and Soviet censorship, Ovenden demonstrates that every attack on books is ultimately an attack on freedom itself.

The Ukrainian edition adds a powerful new dimension to this story. Prepared especially for this publication, the new foreword documents Russia's ongoing war against Ukrainian culture. It tells the stories of Ukrainian librarians who rescued collections under shelling, rebuilt destroyed libraries after occupation, and proved that even in wartime, books remain symbols of freedom, memory, and human dignity.



The publication has been produced as part of a joint charitable initiative by the Library Country Charitable Foundation and Ranok Publishing House, with the support of the book's author, Richard Ovenden, OBE, Head of GLAM, Bodley's Librarian, and the Helen Hamlyn Director of the University Libraries.

• The book was translated from English into Ukrainian by Tamara Horikha Zernia — a Ukrainian writer, translator, volunteer, and recipient of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.

• The scientific editor of the Ukrainian edition is Oleksandr Alfyorov — a Ukrainian historian, PhD in History, Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, and a Major in the Reserve of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

• The literary editor of the Ukrainian edition is Oksana Levytska — PhD in Philology, literary scholar, and Associate Professor in the Department of Philology at the Ukrainian Catholic University.

• The foreword to the Ukrainian edition was written by Liusiena Shum, Chair of the Library Country Charitable Foundation.

By ordering this book, you help spread the truth about Russia's crimes against Ukrainian culture, support the preservation of Ukraine's cultural memory, and express solidarity with librarians who continue to safeguard knowledge and heritage during wartime.

Pre-order the book

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Richard Ovenden for his solidarity with Ukraine, his support for Ukrainian libraries, and his steadfast commitment to raising international awareness of the deliberate destruction of Ukraine's cultural heritage caused by Russia's aggression.

The burned warehouse of Ranok Publishing House after the Russian attack on August 1, 2026, which destroyed more than 8 million copies of Ukrainian books.