The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts, Hammer, Joshua. Published by Simon & Schuster, 2016. 8vo up to 9½” tall., 343pp. with index. Quarter cream cloth over black boards with gilt titles; front endpaper mapped; rear endpaper shows a page of an illustrated manuscript. In fine condition.
In 2012, thousands of Al Qaeda militants from northwest Africa seized control of most of Mali, including Timbuktu. They imposed Sharia law, chopped off the hands of accused thieves, stoned to death unmarried couples, and threatened to destroy precious centuries-old Arabic manuscripts. As the militants tightened their control over Timbuktu, Haidara organized a dangerous operation to sneak all 350,000 volumes out of the city to the safety of southern Mali.
