Books like Conversations with Chinua Achebe by Bernth Lindfors

Chinua Achebe’s 1958 classic follows Okonkwo, an Igbo wrestling champion, as he navigates pre‑colonial traditions and the disruptive arrival of European missionaries in Nigeria’s southeastern region.

In 1921, Iloro Nigeria's chief priest Ezeulu struggles to protect his Igbo traditions as British colonial rule and Christian influence clash, culminating in a tragic confrontation that challenges his authority and faith.

A vivid portrayal of post‑colonial Nigeria, the novel juxtaposes city life and tribal unrest, exploring drought, political power struggles, and the influence of the petroleum industry on modern Africa.

Chinua Achebe’s three essays explore the power of African stories, critique European cultural imperialism, and call for authentic African voices to reclaim their narrative.

From the celebrated author of Things Fall Apart and winner of the Man Booker International Prize comes a new collection of autobiographical essays--his first new book in more than twenty years.Chinua Achebe's characteristically measured and nuanced voice is everywhere present in these seventeen beautifully written pieces. In a preface, he discusses his historic visit to his Nigerian homeland on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart, the story of his tragic car accident nearly twenty years ago, and the potent symbolism of President Obama's election. In "The Education of a British-Protected Child," Achebe gives us a vivid portrait of growing up in colonial Nigeria and inhabiting its "middle ground," recalling both his happy memories of reading novels in secondary school and the harsher truths of colonial rule. In "Spelling Our Proper Name," Achebe considers the African-American diaspora, meeting and reading Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, and learning what it means not to know "from whence he came." The complex politics and history of Africa figure in "What Is Nigeria to Me?," "Africa's Tarnished Name," and "Politics and Politicians of Language in African Literature." And Achebe's extraordinary family life comes into view in "My Dad and Me" and "My Daughters," where we observe the effect of Christian missionaries on his father and witness the culture shock of raising "brown" children in America.Charmingly personal, intellectually disciplined, and steadfastly wise, The Education of a British-Protected Child is an indispensable addition to the remarkable Achebe oeuvre.From the Hardcover edition.