Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
Charlie English

Creator

Charlie English

Charlie English works from London, UK. Author, The Storied City, aka The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu. Formerly @guardian foreign editor Charlie English has over 2383 followers on Twitter.

Alkanis Cissé reads theological manuscripts from the 13th century at the Ahmed Baba Centre for Islamic learning. About 4 000 ancient scripts were burned by radical religious militants in 2012.
TIMBUKTU MANUSCRIPTS

Scroll smugglers: How Timbuktu’s secret treasures were saved

Never mind the danger or the politics, rescuing the manuscripts was all that mattered.

  • Charlie English
22 min read