“Combining years of firsthand experience with a deep knowledge of the region, Laessing offers a timely and engaging account of the political and security dynamics shaping today’s Sahel. Accessible without sacrificing nuance, this book provides valuable insights through interviews with local populations into one of the world’s most strategically important—and often misunderstood—regions.”

Nina Wilén, director of the Africa Programme, Egmont Institute

“If you want to understand how the African Sahel became a hotbed of jihadism during the past two decades, there’s no better book to read than Laessing’s The Road to Bamako. As a Mali-based observer for a German foundation in the early 2020s, Laessing had a front row seat to the military coups, Russian machinations, and French arrogance that drove a deepening wedge between West Africa and Western Europe—and made a volatile situation even more violent. Roaming the region from Agadez to Timbuktu, Laessing documents the rise of radicalism with an insider’s access and a keen reporter’s eye. A triumph.”

Joshua Hammer, author of "The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu"