Describes how a group of Timbuktu librarians enacted a daring plan to smuggle the city's great collection of rare Islamic manuscripts away from the threat of destruction at the hands of Al Quaeda militants to the safety of southern Mali.
The thrilling account of how a band of Malian librarians and archivists risked their lives to save priceless ancient manuscripts from destruction in al Qaeda₆occupied Timbuktu, interwoven with the historical race to 'discover' the much-mythologized city.