Synopses & Reviews
From the legendary author of Things Fall Apartand#151;a long-awaited memoir of coming of age in a fragile new nation, and its destruction in a tragic civil war For more than forty years, Chinua Achebe has maintained a considered silence on the events of the Nigerian civil war, also known as the Biafran War, of 1967and#150;1970, addressing them only obliquely through his poetry. Now, decades in the making, comes a towering account of one of modern Africaand#8217;s most disastrous events, from a writer whose words and courage have left an enduring stamp on world literature. A marriage of history and memoir, vivid firsthand observation and decades of research and reflection, There Was a Country is a work whose wisdom and compassion remind us of Chinua Achebeand#8217;s place as one of the great literary and moral voices of our age.
Review
"Foreign Policy Must Read 2012" by Books from Global Thinkers
and#8220;Chinua Achebeand#8217;s history of Biafra is a meditation on the condition of freedom. It has the tense narrative grip of the best fiction. It is also a revelatory entry into the intimate character of the writerand#8217;s brilliant mind and bold spirit. Achebe has created here a new genre of literature in which politico-historical evidence, the power of story-telling, and revelations from the depths of the human subconscious are one. The event of a new work by Chinua Achebe is always extraordinary; this one exceeds all expectation.and#8221;and#8212;Nadine Gordimer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
and#8220;A fascinating and gripping memoir.and#8221; and#8212;The Wall Street Journal
and#8220;There Was a Country ought to be essential readingand#8230;an eclectic range of insights and fascinating anecdotes.and#8221;and#8212;Financial Times
and#8220;Achebe writes in a characteristically modest fashionand#8230;Like much of Achebeand#8217;s other work, this book about the progress of war and the presence of violence has a universal quality. In a world where sectarian hatreds augmented by political mediocrity have fractured Syria and threaten to bring Israel and Iran to blows, There Was a Country is a valuable account of how the suffering caused by war is both unnecessary and formative.and#8221;and#8212;Newsweek
"Memoir and history are brought together by a master storyteller."
and#8212;The Guardian
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About the Author
Chinua Achebe