legacy of the Biafran War
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These powerful books help us understand a
complicated time in our history, and the political
and personal legacy that it still carries.
The violence, tragedy, bravery, and loss of the
Biafran War has been memorialized in countless
novels, diaries, memoirs, and works of nonfiction.
These powerful books help us understand a
complicated time in our history, and the political
and personal legacy it still carries.
1. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie
Half of a Yellow Sun is a tremendously evocative
novel of the promise, hope, and disappointment of
the Biafran war.
An astute exploration of extreme politics, as well as
a moving love story, Adichie examines the state of
Nigeria before the war, the wave of suspicion and
violence that led to it and the hardship it brought to
the Igbos.
2 . Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta
Set against the backdrop of the Nigerian Civil war,
Under the Udala Trees is a coming-of-age story of a
young girl; Ijeoma, whose life is marred by war,
death, and forbidden sexuality.
Under the Udala Trees, examines the homosexual
love between Ijeoma, a Christian Igbo, and Amina, a
Muslim Hausa.
3. The Last Duty by Isidore Okpewho
Brutally honest and rich in detail, The last duty
focuses on the casualties of the Biafran war. It
shows how the circumstances, the deprivations, the
hardship faced during war changes people.
This book gives us fresh insight into the lives of
those affected by the Biafran war, indicating that
under pressure humans are capable of despicable
and horrendous actions.
4. Everything Good will come by Sefi Atta
This novel traces the unusual friendship between
two African girls, one born of privilege and the
other, a lower class "half-caste", against the
backdrop of tragedy, family strife, and a war-torn
Nigeria.
Everything Good Will Come evokes the sights and
smells of Africa while imparting a wise and
universal story of love, friendship, prejudice, survival,
politics, and the cost of divided loyalties.
5. Sunset in Biafra by Elechi Amadi
Sunset in Biafra is a bitter and beautifully-written
memoir by Elechi Amadi, which looks at the war
from the point of view of an anti-Biafran minority.
Sunset in Biafra is Elechi Amadi’s only work of non-
fiction and he writes from the perspective of a
sensitive and refined civilian caught up in the chaos
of conquest and occupation.
6. Sozaboy by Ken Saro-Wiwa
Written in 'rotten English' - a mixture of Nigerian
pidgin English, broken English and idiomatic
English. Soza Boy describes the fortunes of a young
naive recruit in the Nigerian Civil War: from the first
proud days of recruitment to the disillusionment,
confusion and horror that follows.
7. Sunset at Dawn by Chukwuemeka Ike
In a novel that is at the same time a satire, a love
story and a story of war, Chukwuemeka Ike has
drawn movingly and convincingly on his own
experiences of the Biafran tragedy.
Described with Ike’s individual brand of warmth,
sympathy, and all sheer humanity, this novel tells
with humour, a human story set in the tragedy of
the Biafran war.
8. There was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra
by Chinua Achebe
Marrying history and memoir, poetry and
prose, There Was a Country is a ground breaking
meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the
redemptive power of storytelling as written by one
of the most vital literary and moral voices of our
age.
9. Survive the Peace by Cyprian Ekwensi
This profound, startling, and beautifully book
focuses on the Nigeria-Biafra war, interrogating the
problems of surviving in the so-called peace.
It looks for instance at the pathetic fate of James
Odugo, a journalist who survives the war only to be
cut down on the road by marauding former soldiers.
Cyprian Ekwensi also penned another book on the
Biafran War titled 'Divided We Stand'
10. The Biafran Story by Frederick Forsyth
The book gives a heart wrenching account of the
1966 coups; the massacres of Eastern Nigerians;
the pulsating operations in the theatres of war and
the kwashiorkor that brought Biafra to her knees.
A close friend of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-
Ojukwu, the Biafran head of state, this book was
the outcome of Forsyth’s years as a journalist
covering the war in Biafra.
Honourable Mentions:
Toads of War by Eddie Iroh
Girls at War and other stories by Chinua Achebe
Why we struck by Adewale Ademoyega
Tragedy of Victory by Brigadier General Alabi-Isama
The Brothers War by John de St. Jorre
Surviving in Biafra by Alfred Uzokwe
Journey of no Return by Tochukwu Nwankwo
The Man Died by Wole Soyinka
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