![]() ![]() In 2012, thousands of Al Qaeda militants from northwest Africa seized control of most of Mali, including Timbuktu. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells the incredible story of how Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist and historian from the legendary city of Timbuktu, later became one of the world's greatest and most brazen smugglers. 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 had fallen into obscurity. ![]() ![]() To save precious centuries-old Arabic texts from Al Qaeda, a band of librarians in Timbuktu pulls off a brazen heist worthy of Ocean's Eleven. A superb rendering of a story that needs to be told.' - Scott Anderson, author of Lawrence in Arabia It is also an inspirational reminder that, even as the forces of barbarism extend their thrall across so much of the Muslim world, there are still those willing to risk everything to preserve civilization. 'Hammer has pulled off the truly remarkable here-a book that is both important and a delight to read. ![]()
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