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The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts
Author:
Hammer, Joshua
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Class:
025.8209
Age: Adult
Language: English
Descriptors: Reprint
Demand: Moderate
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LC: Z659
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ISBN-13: 9781476777412
LCCN: 2015030396
Imprint: Simon & Schuster
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Pub Date: 04/04/2017
Availability: Available
List: $18.00
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Trade Paper
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Physical Description:
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278 pages ; 22 cm
H 8.37",
W 5.5",
D 0.7",
0.52 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's Insight Catalog: Adult
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Bibliographies:
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Los Angeles Times Bestsellers List
Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction, 16th ed.
Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction, 17th ed.
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Awards:
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Starred Reviews:
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TIPS Subjects:
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Library Science
Islam (Religion)
Africa
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BISAC Subjects: |
HISTORY / Africa / West
HISTORY / Modern / 21st Century
RELIGION / Islam / History
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LC Subjects:
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Centre de documentation et de recherches "Ahmed Baba."
Cultural property, Protection, Mali
Islamic learning and scholarship, Mali, Tombouctou
Librarians, Mali, Tombouctou
Libraries, Destruction and pillage, Mali, Tombouctou
Mali, History, Tuareg Rebellion, 2012-, Destruction and pillage
Manuscripts, Arabic, Mali, Tombouctou
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SEARS Subjects: |
Africa, History
History
Islam
Islam, History
Religion
West Africa, History
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Reading Programs: |
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| Annotations |
| ONIX annotations | 03/04/2024 |
| **New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice**
To save ancient Arabic texts from Al Qaeda, a band of librarians pulls off a brazen heist worthy of Ocean's Eleven in this "fast-paced narrative that ispart intellectual history, part geopolitical tract, and part out-and-out thriller" (The Washington Post) from the author of The Falcon Thief.
In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River, tracking down and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts that were crumbling in the trunks of desert shepherds. His goal: preserve this crucial part of the world's patrimony in a gorgeous library. But then Al Qaeda showed up at the door.
"Part history, part scholarly adventure story, and part journalist surveyJoshua Hammer writes with verve and expertise" (The New York Times Book Review) about how Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist from the legendary city of Timbuktu, became one of the world's greatest smugglers by saving the texts from sure destruction. With bravery and patience, Haidara organized a dangerous operation to sneak all 350,000 volumes out of the city to the safety of southern Mali. His heroic heist "has all the elements of a classic adventure novel" (The Seattle Times), and is a reminder that ordinary citizens often do the most to protect the beauty of their culture. His the story is one of a man who, through extreme circumstances, discovered his higher calling and was changed forever by it. |
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9781476777412,dl.it[0].title
| Review Citations |
| New York Times Book Review | 04/16/2017 |
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