The Story of Libraries

This work describes the crucial role libraries played in ancient Egypt, Han-dynasty China, the ancient Western Classical world (the great library of Alexandria, which was lost to us in stages over many years), the Baghdad of Harun-al-Rashid, and medieval and Renaissance Europe. It continues with the libraries of colonial America, the Library of Congress, university libraries, and today's large public library system.

Fred Lerner holds degrees in history and library science from Columbia University, where he received his doctorate. He has also written widely on contemporary science fiction and produces a bibliographical database indexing literature on posttraumatic stress disorder. He lives in Vermont with his wife Sheryl, a retired teacher.