Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

Published December 1958
First published in 1958, this is the story of a strong man whose life is dominated by fear and anger. It is also a social document, recounting the impact of colonialism and Christianity on the life of an African tribe - the Ibo - in turn-of-the-century Nigeria.

No Longer at Ease

by Chinua Achebe

Published December 1960

Obi Okonkwo is an idealistic young man who, thanks to the privileges of an education in Britain, has now returned to Nigeria for a job in the civil service. However in his new role he finds that the way of government seems to be backhanders and corruption. Obi manages to resist the bribes that are offered to him, but when he falls in love with an unsuitable girl - to the disapproval of his parents - he sinks further into emotional and financial turmoil. The lure of easy money becomes harder to refuse, and Obi becomes caught in a trap he cannot escape.

Showing a man lost in cultural limbo, and a Nigeria entering a new age of disillusionment, No Longer at Ease concludes Achebe's remarkable trilogy charting three generations of an African community under the impact of colonialism, the first two volumes of which are Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God.


Beware Soul Brother

by Chinua Achebe

Published 16 October 1972
Written during the Nigerian Civil War, this collection of poetry won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1972.

Girls at War and Other Stories

by Chinua Achebe

Published 28 February 1972
This collection of short stories includes three set in the Biafran war.