The Vanished Library (Hellenistic Culture and Society ; 7)

Rating:
Summary: Immensely Weird Focus
Review: This book is astounding. I came away feeling that I knew way too much about the library at Alexandria. Canfora's passion for the subject is evident, and he seasons his account of the library and its death with personal intensity. The resultant detail is thorough and masterful.

I cannot help but wonder, though, whether it was worth it. The intense focus of so much attention on so specific a subject left me slightly uneasy, as if I had watched Canfora engaged in a perfectly moral activity, but one that was best done behind closed doors.