There Was a Country by Chinua Achebe

There Was a Country

A Memoir

Chinua Achebe

Penguin Publishing Group · Print & ebook · September 24, 2013

From the legendary author of Things Fall Apart—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 maintained a considered silence on the events of the Nigerian civil war, also known as the Biafran War, of 1967–1970, addressing them only obliquely through his poetry.

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Who it’s for
A memoir and historical account bring personal witness and reflection to a fragile nation’s destruction.
Themes
Nigerian Civil War, Coming of age in a new nation, History and memoir
Genres
West African History, Personal Memoirs, Other Military Conflicts

About this book

From the legendary author of Things Fall Apart—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 maintained a considered silence on the events of the Nigerian civil war, also known as the Biafran War, of 1967–1970, addressing them only obliquely through his poetry.

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Decades in the making, There Was a Country is a towering account of one of modern Africa’s most disastrous events, from a writer whose words and courage 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 Achebe’s place as one of the great literary and moral voices of our age.

History in Memory

A memoir and historical account bring personal witness and reflection to a fragile nation’s destruction.

Come here for

  • Firsthand perspective on Nigeria’s civil war
  • The meeting of memoir and history

Expect

  • Vivid observation alongside decades of reflection
  • A voice marked by wisdom and compassion

Where it sits

West African History56%
Personal Memoirs54%
Other Military Conflicts30%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Personal Memoirs
  • West African History
  • Other Military Conflicts
Authors
Chinua Achebe
Publisher
Penguin Publishing Group
Published
September 24, 2013
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Nigerian Civil War · Coming of age in a new nation · History and memoir
Reading lane
Personal Memoirs