The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu

From the title, listeners might expect an action thriller featuring librarians who rescue the written heritage of Timbuktu from thieves-- and they'd be half right. Paul Boehmer reads this complex historical and journalistic account of Abdel Kader Haidara, archivist and chief protector of Timbuktu's priceless cultural heritage as he gathers together, into modern repositories, more than 350,000 Malian, Arabic, Timbuktu, and tribal manuscripts dating from the twelfth to the nineteenth century. While Boehmer's Arabic pronunciation sounds accurate to the Western ear, a native Saharan or Malian narrator would be better. When Islamic jihad arises in Mali, Haidara must find a way to protect the manuscripts from destruction. Boehmer powerfully delivers this chilling history of altruism, of survival in the face of religious fundamentalism. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

January 11, 2016
Journalist Hammer (Yokohama Burning) reports on librarian Abdel Kader Haidara and his associates’ harrowing ordeal as they rescued 370,000 historical manuscripts from destruction by al-Qaeda-occupied Timbuktu. Hammer sketches Haidara’s career amassing manuscripts from Timbuktu’s neighboring towns and building his own library, which opened in 2000. Meanwhile, three al-Qaeda operatives, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, Abdel-hamid Abou Zeid, and Iyad Ag Ghali, escalate from kidnapping and drug trafficking to orchestrating a coup with Tuareg rebels against the Malian army and seizing Timbuktu. The militants aim to “turn the clocks back fourteen hundred years” by destroying revered religious shrines and imposing Sharia law, which includes flogging unveiled women and severing the hands of thieves. Fearing for the safety of the manuscripts, Haidara and associates buy up “every trunk in Timbuktu” and pack them off 606 miles south to Bamako, employing a team of teenage couriers. Hammer does a service to Haidara and the Islamic faith by providing the illuminating history of these manuscripts, managing to weave the complicated threads of this recent segment of history into a thrilling story. Agent: Flip Brophy, Sterling Lord Literistic.

June 15, 2016

Hammer (Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire That Helped Forge the Path to World War II) delivers an engrossing and dramatic story about smuggling manuscripts out of Timbuktu during the occupation of Mali by al-Qaeda militants. Listeners are treated to an exciting history of the turbulence of Islamic leadership spanning several centuries and the historical and cultural importance of the 370,000 documents in question. Hammer describes the efforts of Abdel Kader Haidara, an expert on ancient manuscripts at the National Library of Mali, who realizes the library's collection is in danger. Haidara, along with a team of amateur smugglers, successfully transports the collection over 400 miles to safety. While the descriptions of the often brutally violent life under sharia law imposed by the militants might turn off some listeners, they help to illustrate the danger these librarian-smugglers faced. Hammer presents this as a suspenseful, dramatic, and absorbing tale, complete with a fascinating history of the region and a terrifying look into jihadi groups. It is unfortunate that the narration by Paul Boehmer is completely devoid of that excitement and drama. VERDICT Those who continue to listen despite the disappointing narration will be greatly rewarded by the fascinating story. ["Hammer's clearly written and engaging chronicle of the achievements of Timbuktu...brings to light an important and unfamiliar story": LJ 2/15/16 review of the S. & S. hc.]--Cathleen Keyser, NoveList, Durham, NC

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