![]() Under the patronage of the Mali and Shonghay empires, learning thrived and took particular hold in the city of Timbuktu. Hammer ties these manuscripts to a remarkable literary flowering that occurred in the valley of the Niger River spanning from the 13 th through the 16 th centuries. ![]() Hammer describes the effort to save over 300,000 medieval Islamic manuscripts in the famed city of Timbuktu under the nose of a 2012 occupation by al-Qaeda jihadists. While many current conflicts have taken a heavy toll on civilizations most precious artifacts, the American journalist Joshua Hammer in his book The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells a counter story of triumph in the West African nation of Mali. The dynamiting of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban in 2001 and the destruction of antiquities in Palmyra by ISIS from 2014-2016 are just a few of the most recent atrocities highlighting the continued vulnerability of historic and cultural treasures. These dark specters have claimed much of humanity’s creative and artistic memory. ![]() ![]() World history is loaded with examples of intolerance, fanaticism, and war. ![]()
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