In 2012, heavily armed al Qaeda jihadists invaded parts of Mali and established Sharia law in the ancient city of Timbuktu. The fabled city housed a treasure trove of irreplaceable manuscripts of all kinds. The anti-education jihadists would have destroyed them all. In a story worthy of a spy novel, a group of librarians saved them, writes Simon Worrall in National Geographic.
One World Observatory
From the Newsletter
