The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu

I found The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer to be an interesting read.  It is the true story of how a small group of people in Malia recognised the threat which Al Qaeda posed to Islamic books and manuscripts stored in the Timbuktu libraries.  The manuscripts had been collected by Abdel Kader Haidara from all over Malia.  He was able to convince the owners to give them to him to be restored and put in the libraries where they would be safe from further environmental damage.  However, when Malia was invaded by Al Qaeda the manuscripts faced a direct threat.  The precious manuscripts were hundreds of years old and included subjects such as astronomy, mathematics, art, philosophy, law and religion.  Many were elaborately illustrated with coloured paints and gold leaf.  They showed a vibrant and progressive culture at a time when western artistic culture was not so advanced.  The loss of these thousands of manuscripts would not only have been a loss to Islamic cultural heritage but to the whole world's.  This book is a valuable lesson in the history of Mali, particularly the recent history since 9/11 with the rise of fundamentalist Islam.  I don't like the title which I think is rather flippant and does not reflect the serious nature of the content. 4/5