The Bad-Ass Librarians Of Timbuktu: And Their Race To Save The World’s Most Precious Manuscripts

"There’s one word in the title that annoyed me, but don’t be put off by it — focus rather on the second half: and their race to save the world’s most precious manuscripts. It’s a splendid story, with a powerful moral. Joshua Hammer skillfully sketches a handful of portraits of committed cultural custodians, led by Abdel Kader Haidara of Mali, and weaves an almost desperate adventure and race against time. Talk about a thrilling and nail-biting narrative, page after page. It’s a mix of ancient history, geography, politics, passion, civilization, culture, drama — and how extremism and repression almost put an end to all that."