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There was a country : a personal history of Biafra / Chinua Achebe.
Van Pelt Library PR9387.9.A3 Z46 2012
By Request
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Achebe, Chinua.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Achebe, Chinua.
- Authors, Nigerian--20th century--Biography.
- Authors, Nigerian.
- Nigeria--History--Civil War, 1967-1970--Personal narratives.
- Nigeria.
- History.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Personal narratives.
- Physical Description:
- 333 pages : maps ; 25 cm
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Penguin Press, 2012.
- Summary:
- Achebe's long-awaited account of coming of age during the defining experience of his life: the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War of 1967-1970.
- Contents:
- Part 1
- Pioneers of a New Frontier 7
- The Magical Years 8
- Primary Exposure 15
- Leaving Home 17
- The Formative Years at Umuahia and Ibadan 19
- The Umuahia Experience 21
- The Ibadan Experience 28
- Meeting Christie and Her Family 30
- Discovering Things Fall Apart 33
- A Lucky Generation 39
- The March to Independence 40
- The Cradle of Nigerian Nationalism 43
- Post-Independence Nigeria 48
- The Decline 51
- The Role of the Writer in Africa 52
- 1966 (poem) 62
- January 15, 1966, Coup 63
- The Dark Days 65
- Benin Road (poem) 73
- A History of Ethnic Tension and Resentment 74
- The Army 78
- Countercoup and Assassination 80
- The Pogroms 82
- Penalty of Godhead (poem) 84
- The Aburi Accord 85
- Generation Gap (poem) 90
- The Nightmare Begins 91
- Part 2
- The Nigeria-Biafra War 95
- The Biafran Position 95
- The Nigerian Argument 96
- The Role of the Organization of African Unity 96
- The Triangle Game: The UK, France, and the United States 99
- The Writers and Intellectuals 105
- The War and the Nigerian Intellectual 108
- The Life and Work of Christopher Okigbo 114
- The Major Nigerian Actors in the Conflict: Ojukwu and Gowon 118
- The Aristocrat 118
- The Gentleman General 120
- The First Shot (poem) 127
- The Biafran Invasion of the Mid-West 128
- Gowon Regroups 132
- The Asaba Massacre 133
- Biafran Repercussions 135
- Blood, Blood, Everywhere 136
- The Calabar Massacre 137
- Biafra, 1969 (poem) 141
- The Republic of Biafra 143
- The Intellectual Foundation of a New Nation 143
- The Biafran State 149
- The Biafran Flag 151
- The Biafran National Anthem 151
- The Military 153
- Ogbunigwe 156
- Biafran Tanks 157
- A Tiger Joins the Army 158
- Freedom Fighters 159
- Traveling on Behalf of Biafra 160
- Refugee Mother and Child (A Mother in a Refugee Camp) (poem) 168
- Life in Biafra 169
- The Abagana Ambush 173
- Air Raid (poem) 175
- The Citadel Press 176
- The Ifeajuna Manuscript 178
- Staying Alive 179
- Death of the Poet: "Daddy, Don't Let Him Die!" 183
- Mango Seedling (poem) 186
- Refugees 188
- We Laughed at Him (poem) 196
- The Media War 199
- Narrow Escapes 200
- Vultures (poem) 204
- Part 3
- The Fight to the Finish 209
- The Economic Blockade and Starvation 209
- The Silence of the United Nations 211
- Azikiwe Withdraws Support for Biafra 215
- The Recapture of Owerri 217
- Biafra Takes an Oil Rig: "The Kwale Incident" 218
- 1970 and The Fall 222
- The Question of Genocide 228
- The Arguments 229
- The Case Against the Nigerian Government 233
- Gowon Responds 236
- Part 4
- Nigeria's Painful Transitions: A Reappraisal 243
- Corruption and Indiscipline 249
- State Failure and the Rise of Terrorism 250
- State Resuscitation and Recovery 251
- After a War (poem) 254.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 9781594204821
- 1594204829
- OCLC:
- 778827681
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