The Library Mule of Cordoba

 The Library Mule of Cordoba by Wilfrid Lupano and Léonard Chemineau, 263 pages.

In 976 Cordoba is the center of learning for the Western world, and people come from far away to study in its magnificent library. But after the caliph dies young and a vizier is appointed to rule Al-Andalus everything changes very quickly. The new vizier decides that most of the library's texts are heretical, and burns them to help push for wars that will allow him to conquer more of what is today Spain. Tarid is the head librarian, and although he is a slave and a eunuch he won't allow this to happen. Tarid, a copyist, and a thief all set out to save the most precious books, taking them on a dangerous journey across Al-Andalus.

Byron wrote about this graphic novel almost exactly a year ago, and it has taken me this long to get around to reading it. I appreciated that this was both very historically interesting and a solid adventure story. It's not very common to find books set during this period, and this one has a fairly extensive section in the back giving history and context after the story was over. It is sad to see how often book burning and suppression go hand-in-hand with religious extremism (regardless of the religion), but it also makes the history feel very present. Recommended for people interested in Muslim Spain, historical libraries, and a wild adventure to save books.