Los contrabandistas de libros [Hardcover]

The story starts in ‘80s-era Timbuktu, when bookseller, historian, and librarian Abdel Kader Haidara received an order to search for and rescue tens of thousands of lost ancient manuscripts. He is derailed from this formidable task when, in 2012, thousands of Al Qaeda militants take control of Mali. After sharia law is imposed and calls for the destruction of historical manuscripts, Haidara must organize a dangerous clandestine operation to smuggle 300,00 manuscripts out of the occupied city.

“Part history, part scholarly adventure story and part journalist survey of the volatile religious politics of the Maghreb region. . . . Hammer writes with verve and expertise.”—New York Times Book Review, on the English-language edition

Joshua Hammer is an American journalist and editor at Newsweek. His book Chosen by God, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. He regularly contributes to publications including The New York Times, the New York Review of Books, National Geographic and Condé Nast Traveler.