Ovenden kinda' loses credibility w/ me when he talks about the Great Library at Alexandria.

I've read more than few books that describe how the Arab conquest resulted in the burning of the scrolls.

One, in particular, was quite detailed, the author mentions records of the Arab commander's discussions w/ the head librarian & his reluctance to carry out the Caliph's order.

But, as the text reads, in the end the scrolls were burned as firewood, except for the works of (can't remember the name but it was a famous greek mathematician).

Now, of course, this doesn't mean the library building/s were burned so maybe that's what he's getting at.

Still, the destruction of the contents was very similar to what outfits like ISIS/ISIL/Daesh are doing right now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------