There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra by Chinua Achebe (English) Har

Description: There Was a Country by Chinua Achebe From the legendary author of "Things Fall Apart" comes a long awaited memoir about coming of age with a fragile new nation, then watching it torn asunder in a tragic civil war. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description From the legendary author of Things Fall Apart comes a longawaited memoir about coming of age with a fragile new nation, then watching it torn asunder in a tragic civil warThe defining experience of Chinua Achebes life was the Nigerian civil war, also known as the Biafran War, of 1967–1970. The conflict was infamous for its savage impact on the Biafran people, Chinua Achebes people, many of whom were starved to death after the Nigerian government blockaded their borders. By then, Chinua Achebe was already a world-renowned novelist, with a young family to protect. He took the Biafran side in the conflict and served his government as a roving cultural ambassador, from which vantage he absorbed the wars full horror. Immediately after, Achebe took refuge in an academic post in the United States, and for more than forty years he has maintained a considered silence on the events of those terrible years, addressing them only obliquely through his poetry. Now, decades in the making, comes a towering reckoning with one of modern Africas most fateful events, from a writer whose words and courage have left an enduring stamp on world literature. Achebe masterfully relates his experience, bothas he lived it and how he has come to understand it. He begins his story with Nigerias birth pangs and the story of his own upbringing as a man and as a writer so that we might come to understand the countrys promise, which turned to horror when the hot winds of hatred began to stir. To read There Was a Country is to be powerfully reminded that artists have a particular obligation, especially during a time of war. All writers, Achebe argues, should be committed writers—they should speak for their history, their beliefs, and their people. Marrying history and memoir, poetry and prose, There Was a Country is a distillation of vivid firsthand observation and forty years of research and reflection. Wise, humane, and authoritative, it will stand as definitive and reinforce Achebes place as one of the most vital literary and moral voices of our age. Author Biography Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. He has published novels, short stories, essays, and childrens books. His volume of poetry Christmas in Biafra was the joint winner of the first Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Of his novels, Arrow of God won the New Statesman-Jock Campbell Award, and Anthills of the Savannah was a finalist for the 1987 Booker Prize. Things Fall Apart, Achebes masterpiece, has been published in fifty different languages and has sold more than ten million copies internationally since its first publication in 1958. Achebe is the recipient of the Nigerian National Merit Award, Nigerias highest award for intellectual achievement. In 2007, he won the Man Booker International Prize. He died in March 2013. Review "Foreign Policy Must Read 2012" by Books from Global Thinkers"Chinua Achebes 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 writers 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."—Nadine Gordimer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature"A fascinating and gripping memoir." —The Wall Street Journal"There Was a Country ought to be essential reading…an eclectic range of insights and fascinating anecdotes."—Financial Times"Achebe writes in a characteristically modest fashion…Like much of Achebes 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."—Newsweek"Memoir and history are brought together by a master storyteller."—The Guardian Review Quote "Foreign Policy Must Read 2012" by Books from Global Thinkers "Chinua Achebes 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 writers 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."-Nadine Gordimer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature "A fascinating and gripping memoir." - The Wall Street Journal " There Was a Country ought to be essential reading…an eclectic range of insights and fascinating anecdotes."- Financial Times "Achebe writes in a characteristically modest fashion…Like much of Achebes 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."- Newsweek "Memoir and history are brought together by a master storyteller." - The Guardian Excerpt from Book An Igbo proverb tells us that a man who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot say where he dried his body. The rain that beat Africa began four to five hundred years ago, from the "discovery" of Africa by Europe, through the transatlantic slave trade to the Berlin Conference of 1885. That controversial gathering of the worlds leading European powers precipitated what we now call the Scramble for Africa, which created new boundaries that did violence to Africas ancient societies and resulted in tension-prone modern states. It took place without African consultation or representation, to say the least. Great Britain was handed the area of West Africa that would later become Nigeria, like a piece of chocolate cake at a birthday party. It was one of the most populous regions on the African continent, with over 250 ethnic groups and distinct languages. The northern part of the country was the seat of several ancient kingdoms, such as the Kanem-Bornu--which Usman dan Fodio and his jihadists absorbed into the Muslim Fulani Empire. The Middle Belt of Nigeria was the locus of the glorious Nok Kingdom and its world-renowned terra-cotta sculptures. The southern protectorate was home to some of the regions most sophisticated civilizations. In the west, the Oyo and Ife kingdoms once flourished majestically, and in the midwest the incomparable Benin Kingdom elevated artistic distinction to a new level. Across the Niger River in the East, the Calabar and the Nri kingdoms flourished. If the Berlin Conference sealed her fate, then the amalgamation of the southern and northern protectorates inextricably complicated Nigerias destiny. Animists, Muslims, and Christians alike were held together by a delicate, some say artificial, lattice. Britains indirect rule was a great success in northern and western Nigeria, where affairs of state within this new dispensation continued as had been the case for centuries, with one exception--there was a new sovereign, Great Britain, to whom all vassals pledged fealty and into whose coffers all taxes were paid. Indirect rule in Igbo land proved far more challenging to implement. Colonial rule functioned through a newly created and incongruous establishment of "warrant chiefs"--a deeply flawed arrangement that effectively confused and corrupted the Igbo democratic spirit. Africas postcolonial disposition is the result of a people who have lost the habit of ruling themselves. We have also had difficulty running the new systems foisted upon us at the dawn of independence by "our colonial masters." Because the West has had a long but uneven engagement with the continent, it is imperative that it understands what happened to Africa. It must also play a part in the solution. A meaningful solution will require the goodwill and concerted efforts on the part of all those who share the weight of Africas historical burden. Most members of my generation, who were born before Nigerias independence, remember a time when things were very different. Nigeria was once a land of great hope and progress, a nation with immense resources at its disposal--natural resources, yes, but even more so, human resources. But the Biafran war changed the course of Nigeria. In my view it was a cataclysmic experience that changed the history of Africa. It is for the sake of the future of Nigeria, for our children and grandchildren, that I feel it is important to tell Nigerias story, Biafras story, our story, my story. Description for Library Best known for the novel Things Fall Apart, which has sold ten million copies worldwide since 1958, the award-winning Achebe lived through the Nigerian civil war of 1967-70, when Biafra attempted to secede and found its borders blockaded. The result was mass starvation. Achebe, who served the nascent state as roving ambassador, recalls the horror he saw. More than memoir or history, this book is an argument that literature must bear witness. Details ISBN1594204829 Author Chinua Achebe Short Title THERE WAS A COUNTRY Pages 352 Language English ISBN-10 1594204829 ISBN-13 9781594204821 Media Book Format Hardcover Residence RI Year 2012 Publication Date 2012-10-11 Subtitle A Personal History of Biafra Place of Publication New York, NY Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2012-10-11 NZ Release Date 2012-10-11 US Release Date 2012-10-11 UK Release Date 2012-10-11 Illustrations MAPS Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc Imprint Penguin Putnam Inc DEWEY 823.914 Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:137644475;

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