Joshua Ives Hammer is an American content creator and foreign freelance correspondent and bureau chief for Newsweek and in Europe. He has also written several books, including the best-selling The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu in 2016.
Early life and education Hammer was born to a Jewish family,Cleveland Jewish News: "The 30-plus most influential Jews in America" December 27, 2001 and attended the Horace Mann School in Riverdale section of The Bronx. He obtained his B.A in English Literature from Princeton University in 1979 where he was Cum Laude.
Career Hammer has worked as a foreign correspondent.
While at Newsweek he was the Nairobi Bureau Chief from 1993 to 1996, the South American Bureau Chief from 1996 to 1997, the Los Angeles Bureau Chief from 1997 to 2001, the Berlin Bureau Chief from 2000 to 2001, and the Jerusalem Bureau Chief.
His articles have appeared in such publications as The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and Smithsonian.
Personal life Hammer and the photographer Gary Knight were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip in 2001.
Hammer has three sons and as of 2013 was residing with his family in Berlin, Germany.
Bibliography
Books
Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II, 2006 The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, 2016 The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird, 2020 The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing, 2025
Articles
Online version is titled "A look into Brazil’s makeover of Rio’s slums" online. "How do You Solve a Problem Like Amazon?" American Affairs (August 2021)
References
Further reading Book review. Review of Chosen by God. Hammer, Joshua 1957- Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series entry at Encyclopedia.com
External links
Hammer, Joshua. "A Mountain of Trouble." Outside Online, May 2010.