The Secret Library by Oliver Tearle

The Secret Library

by Oliver Tearle

A fascinating tour through the curious history of Western civilization told through its most emblematic invention – the book.


As well as leafing through the well-known titles that have helped shape the world in which we live, Oliver Tearle also dusts off some of the more neglected items to be found hidden among the bookshelves of the past.


You’ll learn about the forgotten Victorian novelist who outsold Dickens, the woman who became the first published poet in America and the eccentric traveller who introduced the table-fork to England. Through exploring a variety of books – novels, plays, travel books, science books, cookbooks, joke books and sports almanacs – The Secret Library highlights some of the most fascinating aspects of our history. It also reveals the surprising connections between various works and historical figures. What links Homer’s Iliad to Aesop’s Fables? Or Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack to the creator of Sherlock Holmes?


The Secret Library brings these little-known stories to light, exploring the intersections between books of all kinds and the history of the Western world over 3,000 years.

Reviewed by MurderByDeath on

4.5 of 5 stars

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This started off super-slow for me for the same reason any overview of history does:  it starts with ancient history.  I know it's important.  I know it influences just about everything today, but it's, forgive me, a bit dull.     Once we got through The Classical World and the Middle Ages though, things picked up.  For each age, Tearle selects a few texts that can, or should, be considered significant.  Some of them are the no-brainers we've all heard of (Shakespeare) and some are names or titles that have unjustly fallen into oblivion (Mary Elizabeth Braddon, whom he argues might be the author of the first English detective novel. Trail of the Serpent).  Whether widely known or not, Tearle tries to focus on thoughts, ideas, or facts that aren't widely known so that there's something new here for likely anyone, no matter how well read.   Informative, readable, and once past the Middle ages, very enjoyable.

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  • Started reading
  • 23 May, 2018: Finished reading
  • 23 May, 2018: Reviewed