| Description |
278 pages : color illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Summary |
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. 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. 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 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 the great 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. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-263) and index. |
| Subject |
Libraries -- Destruction and pillage -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
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Manuscripts, Arabic -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
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Cultural property -- Protection -- Mali.
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Islamic learning and scholarship -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
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Librarians -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
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Mali -- History -- Tuareg Rebellion, 2012- -- Destruction and pillage.
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Centre de documentation et de recherches "Ahmed Baba."
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| ISBN |
9781476777405 (hardcover) |
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9781476777412 (trade pbk.) |
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