Bibliophobia

Bibliophobia is a book about material books, how they are cared for, and how they are damaged, throughout the 5000-year history of writing from Sumeria to the smartphone. Its starting point is the contemporary idea of 'the death of the book' implied by the replacement of physical books by digital media, with accompanying twenty-first-century experiences of paranoia and literary apocalypse. It traces a twin fear of omniscience and oblivion back to the origins of writing in ancient Babylon and Egypt, then forwards to the age of Google. It uncovers bibliophobia from the first Chinese emperor to Nazi Germany, alongside parallel stories of bibliomania and bibliolatry in world religions and literatures. Books imply cognitive content embodied in physical form, in which the body cooperates with the brain. At its heart this relationship of body and mind, or letter and spirit, always retains a mystery. Religions are founded on holy books, which are also sites of transgression, so that writing is simultaneously sacred and profane. In secular societies these complex feelings are transferred to concepts of ideology and toleration. In the ambiguous future of the internet, digital immateriality threatens human equilibrium once again. Bibliophobia is a global history, covering six continents and seven religions, describing written examples from each of the last thirty centuries (and several earlier). It discusses topics such as the origins of different kinds of human script; the development of textual media such as scrolls, codices, printed books, and artificial intelligence; the collection and destruction of libraries; the use of books as holy relics, talismans, or shrines; and the place of literacy in the history of slavery, heresy, blasphemy, censorship, and persecution. It proposes a theory of writing, how it relates to speech, images, and information, or to concepts of mimesis, personhood, and politics. Originating as the Clarendon Lectures in the Faculty of English at the University of Oxford, the methods of Bibliophobia range across book history; comparative religion; philosophy from Plato to Hegel and Freud; and a range of global literature from ancient to contemporary. Richly illustrated with textual forms, material objects, and art works, its inspiration is the power that books always (and continue to) have in the emotional, spiritual, bodily, and imaginative lives of readers.

This volume is illustrated with manuscripts, printed objects, and art works. It tells a 5000-year history of writing and books, giving readers an account of why books matter and how they impact our lives.

Examines the violence, destruction, and suppression that have hounded books throughout their history and the fears that lead to such treachery. This book identifies three deeply seated fears: fear of insurrection, fear of blasphemy, and fear of pornography.

From the best-selling author of The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists comes this hands-on reference containing 180 challenging and engaging lessons—one for each day of the school year. The book is designed to expand the vocabularies of students in grades 6-12 and help them become excited about the life-long process of learning new words. It can be used equally well for in-class activities, self-study, tutoring, or homeschooling. The lessons contained in this book are perfect for “sponge activities”—five-minute lessons to start off or end each class period—or for a supplementary vocabulary lesson.

Preparing for TOEFL Do you plan to take TOEFL or IELTS but are not ready for the challenge? Do you need more practice? If you do, then this book is for you. It is also for those who just want to practice their academic English. Whatever your purpose, this book will give you the foundation in academic English you need for TOEFL and IELTS success. Part I: Argument Strategies In this section, you will learn how to argue subjectively and objectively in writing and when speaking. You will also learn how to summarize. Being able to argue and summarize proficiently is essential for TOEFL and IELTS success, and for success at an English-speaking university. Part II: Academic English Practice This section consists of grouped exercises. They are Structure, Written Expression, and Vocabulary. These challenging exercises will help you build an academic English vocabulary while introducing you to English grammar at the university level.

The ten essays in this volume all deal with various aspects of the interpretation of the Book of Kings. Bob Becking tries to set a course between Scylla and Charibdis. Both 'minimalism' and 'maximalism' are avoided by trying to apply a variety of methods: narratology, historical criticism and theological analysis. This implies that extra-biblical evidence -- the Tell Dan inscription, Assyrian royal inscriptions, West Semitic seal inscriptions -- are taken into account. Selected texts from this biblical book are read on the basis of a three-dimensional matrix: (1) the narrative character of the story/stories; (2) the value and function of extra-biblical material, be it of an epigraphical or an archaeological character; (3) the art of history-writing both ancient and modern. The essays are arranged according to the order in which the relevant texts or their main characters figure in the Book of Kings. Originally published between 1987 and 2005, they have been updated for publication in the present collection.