MixedThe Pittsburgh Post-GazetteMr. Hammer has conducted many interviews with Mr. Haidara and other participants, and has spent considerable time in Mali. This is no parachute journalism or detached academic study; Librarians is marked by the careful detail of time spent steeped in a place ... The book is not without its problems. It was often difficult to keep track of the many characters and sequence of events. I constructed a crude timeline of events and notations on characters in order to follow along. Additionally, there is only one image of a manuscript ... Librarians is an engaging, well-plotted historical adventure that will appeal to history and book lovers. Yet beware, the book falls too easily into the simplistic civilization vs. barbarism.
