Chinua Achebe is considered the father of African literature in English the writer who 'opened the magic casements of African fiction' for an international readership Following the 50th anniversary of the publication of his ground-breaking Things Fall Apart Everyman republish Achebe's first & most famous novel alongside No Longer at Ease & Arrow of God under the collective title The African Trilogy In Things Fall Apart the individual tragedy of Okonkwo 'strong man' & tribal elder in the Nigeria of the 1890s is intertwined with the transformation of traditional Igbo society under the impact of Christianity & colonialism In No Longer at Ease Okonkwo's grandson Obi educated in England returns to a civil-service job in colonial Lagos only to clash with the ruling elite to which he now believes he belongs Arrow of God is set in the 1920s & explores the conflict from the two points of view
- often but not always opposing
- of Ezuelu an Igbo priest & Captain Winterbottom a British district officer In spare & lucid prose Achebe tellsa universal tale of personal & moral struggle in a changing world which continues to resonate in Africa today & has captured the imaginations of readers everywhere