Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) was born in Nigeria and, in a long and distinguished career, has published novels, stories, essays and poems. Cited in the Sunday Times as one of the '1,000 Makers of the Twentieth Century' for defining 'a modern African literature that was truly African' and thereby making 'a major contribution to world literature'. Achebe has received more than 30 honorary doctorates from universities around the world. In 2007 he was awarded the Booker International Prize.
The writer in whose company the prison walls fell down -- NELSON MANDELA A remarkable man . . . a huge inspiration -- CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE Delves deep into the psyche of oppressed peoples and concludes that it is vital for them to take back their own stories * * Observer * * A master narrative * * New York Times Book Review * * Achebe reveals more than he has before about his parents, his education and his early career before becoming a writer -- ALASTAIR NIVEN * * Independent * * A distillation of the thoughts and feelings of one of the world's foremost contemporary writers * * Sunday Herald * * Achebe reveals the inner workings of the human conscience through the predicament of Africa and his own intellectual life . . . A story of the triumph of the mind, told in the words of one of the century's most gifted writers -- HENRY LOUIS GATES JR. Spare and moving . . . A rare opportunity to glimpse a bit of the man behind the monumental novels * * Chicago Tribune * * Soulful . . . A book that anyone concerned with advancing social justice and human dignity should read * * Seattle Times * * A welcome book for Achebe's many admirers * * Kirkus * *