The Library That Went Dark

In 2004, the city of Sarajevo still bore the scars of the siege that had devastated it a decade earlier. Among the greatest losses was the National and University Library, shelled by incendiary grenades in August 1992. Over two million books, manuscripts, and periodicals burned through the night. Ash drifted over the city like black snow. Librarians and ordinary citizens formed human chains, passing volumes hand to hand through sniper fire, saving what fragments they could.…