The Storied City: The Quest for Timbuktu and the Fantastic Mission to Save Its Past
Charlie English
2017. g. maijs · Penguin Random House Audio · Ierunātājs: Enn Reitel
headphones
Audiogrāmata
13 h 54 min
nesaīsināta
family_home
Piemērota
info
Vai vēlaties bezmaksas fragmentu (10 min)? Klausieties jebkurā laikā — pat bezsaistē.
Pievienot
Par šo audiogrāmatu
“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.
Par autoru
Charlie English has held numerous positions at the Guardian, most recently as head of international news. A fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the author of a previous book, The Snow Tourist, he first journeyed to Africa at nineteen, and has traveled widely there and elsewhere around the globe. He lives in London with his family.
Novērtējiet šo audiogrāmatu
Izsakiet savu viedokli!
Informācija par klausīšanos
Viedtālruņi un planšetdatori
Instalējiet lietotni Google Play grāmatas Android ierīcēm un iPad planšetdatoriem/iPhone tālruņiem. Lietotne tiks automātiski sinhronizēta ar jūsu kontu un ļaus lasīt saturu tiešsaistē vai bezsaistē neatkarīgi no jūsu atrašanās vietas.
Klēpjdatori un galddatori
Varat lasīt pakalpojumā Google Play iegādātās grāmatas, izmantojot datora tīmekļa pārlūkprogrammu.
