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 is…part 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 … 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 survey…Joshua 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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A great read for understanding the evolution of the area of Timbuktu …the wonderful ancient and modern day history and rich cultural resources of this region and how the modern day conflicts threatened and continue to threaten it.
I did not know that the area had been the cite of world music concerts in the past 20 years, with audiences from many parts of the world. The book centers on the people, connections and adventures of scholars, librarians from Mali and world organizations that work furiously to save the thousands of ancient books and scripts,and local libraries housing these precious documents, including family libraries where generations of families have housed and hid these items knowing their precious worth…through wars and in the book, impending violence and destruction by Isis types and wanna-be Isis types that are more like con-men and thugs. The story unfolds as Timbuktu is threatened by impending takeover as these characters threaten and execute a brutal invasion of the area. A real page turner.
What an incredible story. One part history lesson, one part religious education, one part action adventure, one part librarian, one part heroic, one part terrorism biopic. This should be essential reading for everyone.
Abdel Kader Haidara is a hero, an absolute champion of the written word.
At times, my heart raced reading this, as I turned the pages, anxious to find out what happened next.
As with every religion, it is the actions of a few, who taint it for the many.
I have now been educated as to the importance of Timbuktu as a town of education, of scholarly work, of sharing, of law. Why as Westerners, are we not taught the rich history of places like Timbuktu?
I am a better person having read this book.
Abdel Kader Haidara is a hero.
Well written, part historical narrative part thriller and all true.
I think this book is dying for a screen-play. Riveting story, quick read. Wonderful.
Abdel Kader Haidara never could have known what he was in for when he was designated the heir of his father’s library of ancient and precious books. Soon he was recruited to traverse the countryside to add to the growing collection in Timbuktu. I’ll pause here to note that this book is an excellent antidote to any feelings of inconvenience which are so often inherent to business travel. Haidara’s travels are often by camel and canoe and he must take care not to appear too tempting a target to bandits and thieves. There’s more than a bit of Dark Star Safari to his travels.
In any event, Haidara is very, very good at his job. In a single year he collects more manuscripts than an entire team of predecessors had managed in the better part of a decade. Soon the city of Timbuktu is home to some 350,000 volumes, many of which are many hundreds of years old. As in, written before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. For centuries, families have safe-guarded their books, locking them in trunks and burying them in desert holes. (The history of these volumes parallels that of the Sarajevo Haggadah in many respects.)
Book-by-book, Haidara has rounded them up from across the Sahara and was nearly as dogged in pursuit of funding to build a library to house them as he was at collecting them. No sooner, it seems, than he has received funding from the likes of the Andrew Mellon Foundation to house, protect, and archive the 800,000 books he and his colleagues have amassed, than Al Qaeda threatens to destroy it all.
Advancing on the former city of scholars, Al Qaeda, as Joshua Hammer explains succinctly, begins imposing Sharia law, chopping off the hands of suspected thieves, stoning to death those suspected of extramarital relations, and burning books. Thus, Haidara becomes a smuggler, building a network of couriers to carry Timbuktu’s treasure out of harm’s way. The work is fraught with danger of almost unimaginable magnitude, but nothing seems to cow Haidara. He rounds up village elders to testify for his men when they are caught, bribes militants at checkpoints, and just generally becomes a first-rate smuggler.
It is hard to give too much credit to Hammer for what he’s accomplished here. He has managed to capture each of the elements of the story, from the geopolitical environment in Mali, to the war on terror, to Mali’s history as a French colony, to, of course, the books and Haidara himself. Parts of the book read like a travelogue (Where the West Ends comes to mind), other parts like a biography, but the various story strands are woven together seamlessly and, if I may say so, pretty brilliantly. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu is a must read for book lovers everywhere.
(This review was originally published at http://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2016/08/the-bad-ass-librarians-of-timbuktu-and.html)
Mali was a cultural center of Africa and the west in the late Middle Ages producing original works of philosophy, theology, history, literature, and a science, and developing a rich culture of manuscript production. In the centuries since the Middle Ages, that tradition has been damaged by a series of radical governments, many of which were hostile to the manuscript culture, driving hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of manuscripts into hidden chests and basements as their owners tried to preserve their heritage. This remarkable book is the story of both the development and decline of that culture, and of the astounding effort to find and preserve those manuscripts in modern libraries built to house them in Timbuktu. It is also the story of how an al-Qaeda inspired group of radical Islamicists took over Mali, threatening to destroy those manuscripts as representing a tradition of Islam they rejected. Finally, it’s the story of brave individuals who risked their lives to save hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable treasures of the past.
A fascinating look at the courageous acts of the keepers of ancient manuscripts in the midst of recent iconoclastic terrorism in Mali. This book left me feeling that I had been there in person as an observer and illuminated a piece of the world that I had known little of. I highly recommend this book.
A very long and drawn out history book.
interesting true story about people dedicated to saving great manuscripts
This book contains many aspects of ordinary people taking action to maintain their culture.
It was interesting to read about the area and the troubles they’ve faced due to religious fanaticism. Makes me even more concerned for the US.
I have to admit what caught my attention was the title, but the book delivered. The author does a great job of explaining the history of what happened, as well as the political mess that allowed it to. He depicts in good detail the backdrop of the events referenced in the title; it took a lot of courage from many people to preserve these beautiful manuscripts which are truly everyone’s heritage. This is a true story, and in many respects, one that is still on-going. Well worth the read.
Read this for a book group. Attendees either loved it or hated it. I was one of the latter. I read the first chapter 3 times. I read the first page of the second chapter 3 times and could not get any further. Simply not interested and so many other books I’d rather read.