The story begins in Timbuktu in the 1980s, when the bookseller, historian and librarian Abdel Kader Haidara is commissioned to search for and rescue tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts that have fallen into oblivion. The wonderful task undertaken by our young protagonist is seriously threatened when in 2012, thousands of Al Qaeda militants take control of most of Mali. After the occupation, Sharia law is imposed, a cruel tradition that includes the destruction of large manuscripts preserved throughout history. Haidara manages to organize a clandestine and dangerous operation to extract 300,000 volumes from the occupied city.