Pettegree and der Weduwen’s focus is more on the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance history of the library, when it largely existed as personal collections of the wealthy and powerful. I’ll admit I skimmed some of those chapters, but if those eras of history make your heart sing, you’re in luck. The final chapters, with more recent history of the politics and progress of the library as a public institution, were of most interest to me.

My full review of The Library is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.