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The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu : and their race to save the world's most precious manuscripts / Joshua Hammer.

The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu : and their race to save the world's most precious manuscripts / Joshua Hammer.

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 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.

Item Information
Barcode Shelf Location Collection Volume Ref. Branch Status Due Date Reserve
200478151 025.8 HAM
Adult Non Fiction   Batemans Bay . . On Hold-B .  
200371389 025.8 HAM
Adult Non Fiction   Narooma . . On Loan . 22 Apr 2024
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Catalogue Information
Field name Details
Shelf Location 025.8 HAM
Author Hammer, Joshua, 1957-
Title The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu : and their race to save the world's most precious manuscripts / Joshua Hammer.
Publication Details New York : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2017.
©2016
Description 278 pages ; 21 cm.
Notes 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 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.
Subject Centre de documentation et de recherches "Ahmed Baba
Libraries -- Destruction and pillage -- Mali -- Tombouctou
Manuscripts, Arabic -- Mali -- Tombouctou
Cultural property -- Protection -- Mali
Islamic learning and scholarship -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
Librarians -- Mali -- Tombouctou
Mali -- History -- Tuareg Rebellion, 2012-Destruction and pillage
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