The storied city: the quest for Timbuktu and the fantastic mission to save its past
(Book)
Author:
Published:
New York : Riverhead Books, 2017.
Physical Desc:
400 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Status:
Central
966.23 E584 2017
Franklin
966.23 E584 2017
Description
“Timbuktu is a real place, and Charlie English will fuel your wanderlust with true descriptions of the fabled city’s past, present, and future.” –Fodor’s
Two tales of a city: The historical race to “discover” one of the world’s most mythologized places, and the story of how a contemporary band of archivists and librarians, fighting to save its ancient manuscripts from destruction at the hands of al Qaeda, added another layer to the legend.
To Westerners, the name “Timbuktu” long conjured a tantalizing paradise, an African El Dorado where even the slaves wore gold. Beginning in the late eighteenth century, a series of explorers gripped by the fever for “discovery” tried repeatedly to reach the fabled city. But one expedition after another went disastrously awry, succumbing to attack, the climate, and disease. Timbuktu was rich in another way too. A medieval center of learning, it was home to tens of thousands—according to some, hundreds of thousands—of ancient manuscripts, on subjects ranging from religion to poetry, law to history, pharmacology, and astronomy. When al-Qaeda–linked jihadists surged across Mali in 2012, threatening the existence of these precious documents, a remarkable thing happened: a team of librarians and archivists joined forces to spirit the manuscripts into hiding.
Relying on extensive research and firsthand reporting, Charlie English expertly twines these two suspenseful strands into a fraught and fascinating account of one of the planet's extraordinary places, and the myths from which it has become inseparable.
Two tales of a city: The historical race to “discover” one of the world’s most mythologized places, and the story of how a contemporary band of archivists and librarians, fighting to save its ancient manuscripts from destruction at the hands of al Qaeda, added another layer to the legend.
To Westerners, the name “Timbuktu” long conjured a tantalizing paradise, an African El Dorado where even the slaves wore gold. Beginning in the late eighteenth century, a series of explorers gripped by the fever for “discovery” tried repeatedly to reach the fabled city. But one expedition after another went disastrously awry, succumbing to attack, the climate, and disease. Timbuktu was rich in another way too. A medieval center of learning, it was home to tens of thousands—according to some, hundreds of thousands—of ancient manuscripts, on subjects ranging from religion to poetry, law to history, pharmacology, and astronomy. When al-Qaeda–linked jihadists surged across Mali in 2012, threatening the existence of these precious documents, a remarkable thing happened: a team of librarians and archivists joined forces to spirit the manuscripts into hiding.
Relying on extensive research and firsthand reporting, Charlie English expertly twines these two suspenseful strands into a fraught and fascinating account of one of the planet's extraordinary places, and the myths from which it has become inseparable.
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Central
966.23 E584 2017
On Shelf
Franklin
966.23 E584 2017
On Shelf
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Subjects
LC Subjects
Cultural property -- Protection -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
Islamic learning and scholarship -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
Libraries -- Destruction and pillage -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
Mali -- History -- Tuareg Rebellion, 2012- -- Destruction and pillage.
Manuscripts, Arabic -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
Tombouctou (Mali) -- Antiquities.
Tombouctou (Mali) -- Discovery and exploration.
Islamic learning and scholarship -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
Libraries -- Destruction and pillage -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
Mali -- History -- Tuareg Rebellion, 2012- -- Destruction and pillage.
Manuscripts, Arabic -- Mali -- Tombouctou.
Tombouctou (Mali) -- Antiquities.
Tombouctou (Mali) -- Discovery and exploration.
More Details
Format:
Book
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781594634284
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 372-382) and index.
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
English, C. (2017). The storied city: the quest for Timbuktu and the fantastic mission to save its past. New York, Riverhead Books.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)English, Charlie. 2017. The Storied City: The Quest for Timbuktu and the Fantastic Mission to Save Its Past. New York, Riverhead Books.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)English, Charlie, The Storied City: The Quest for Timbuktu and the Fantastic Mission to Save Its Past. New York, Riverhead Books, 2017.
MLA Citation (style guide)English, Charlie. The Storied City: The Quest for Timbuktu and the Fantastic Mission to Save Its Past. New York, Riverhead Books, 2017.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
8dec2f1d-4ddb-8692-9d95-bad7c5cba987
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Apr 06, 2024 09:23:53 PM |
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Last File Modification Time | Apr 06, 2024 09:24:10 PM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Apr 18, 2024 02:10:20 AM |
MARC Record
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---|---|---|---|
001 | 2016039192 | ||
003 | DLC | ||
005 | 20170508093235.0 | ||
008 | 160824s2017 nyua b 001 0 eng | ||
010 | |a 2016039192 | ||
020 | |a 9781594634284 | ||
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100 | 1 | |a English, Charlie,|e author. | |
245 | 1 | 4 | |a The storied city :|b the quest for Timbuktu and the fantastic mission to save its past /|c Charlie English. |
264 | 1 | |a New York :|b Riverhead Books,|c 2017. | |
300 | |a 400 pages :|b illustrations ;|c 24 cm | ||
336 | |a text|2 rdacontent | ||
337 | |a unmediated|2 rdamedia | ||
338 | |a volume|2 rdacarrier | ||
504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 372-382) and index. | ||
505 | 0 | |a Prolog: Enterprise and genius -- Occupation -- A seeker of manuscripts -- A wide but extended blank -- Hell is not far away -- The fourth traveler -- Al-Qaeda to the rescue -- Frogs and rosbifs -- Ismael's list -- Destruction -- The armchair explorer -- The headless horseman -- The pope of Timbuktu -- Secret agents -- Liberation -- Lives of the scholars -- The terrible twosome -- King Leopold's paperweight -- Auto-da-fé -- Chronicle of the seeker -- An Indiana Jones moment in real life! -- Manuscript fever -- The myth factory -- Epilogue. | |
650 | 0 | |a Manuscripts, Arabic|z Mali|z Tombouctou. | |
650 | 0 | |a Libraries|x Destruction and pillage|z Mali|z Tombouctou. | |
650 | 0 | |a Islamic learning and scholarship|z Mali|z Tombouctou. | |
650 | 0 | |a Cultural property|x Protection|z Mali|z Tombouctou. | |
651 | 0 | |a Tombouctou (Mali)|x Discovery and exploration. | |
651 | 0 | |a Tombouctou (Mali)|x Antiquities. | |
651 | 0 | |a Mali|x History|y Tuareg Rebellion, 2012-|x Destruction and pillage. | |
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