Book Description

Why black people suffer today
Why black people don't have money today
Why black people haven't travelled to the moon today
THIS is the reason why:
We were in our homeland, without troubles
We were minding our own business
Some people came from a faraway land
They fought us and took our land
They took our people as slaves and destroyed our towns
Our troubles started at that time

Our riches they took away to their land
In return they gave us their colony
They took our culture away from us
They gave us their culture which we don't understand
Black people, we don't know ourselves
We don't know our ancestral heritage
We fight each other every day
We are never together at all —
THAT is why black people suffer today

Musician, political critic, and hedonist, international superstar Fela Anikulapo-Kuti created a sensation throughout his career. In his own country of Nigeria he was simultaneously adulated and loathed, often by the same people at the same time. His outspoken political views and advocacy of marijuana smoking and sexual promiscuity offended many, even as his musical brilliance enthralled them. In his creation of afrobeat, he melded African traditions with African-American and Afro-Caribbean influences to revolutionize world music.

Although harassed, beaten, and jailed by Nigerian authorities, he continued his outspoken and derisive criticism of political corruption at home and economic exploitation from abroad. A volatile mixture of personal characteristics—charisma, musical talent, maverick lifestyle, populist ideology, and persistence in the face of persecution—made him a legend throughout Africa and the world. Celebrated during the 1970's as a musical innovator and spokesman for the continent's oppressed masses, he enjoyed worldwide celebrity during the 1980's and was recognized in the 1990's as a major pioneer and elder statesman of African music. By the time of his death in 1997 from AIDS-related complications, Fela had become something of a Nigerian institution.

In Africa, the idea of transnational alliance, once thought to be outmoded, has gained new currency. In African-America, during a period of increasing social conservatism and ethnic polarization, Africa has re-emerged as a symbol of cultural affirmation. At such a historical moment, Fela's music offers a perspective on race, class, and nation on both sides of the Atlantic. As Professor Veal demonstrates, over three decades Fela synthesized a unique musical language while also clearing—if only temporarily—a space for popular political dissent and a type of counter-cultural expression rarely seen in West Africa. In the midst of political turmoil in Africa, as well as renewal of pro-African cultural nationalism throughout the diaspora, Fela's political music functions as a post-colonial art form that uses cross-cultural exchange to voice a unique and powerful African essentialism. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Masterpice on a Musical Icon
Michael - has managed to do what very authors have been able to do with Fela's Biography....lay down a balanced view point of the great but yet very complicated man. This book here caputres not just the actions but the Philosophy behind such actions. What i found very informative about this book is the amount of education I received on the History of African music - it kinda sets you on the right track to research more. Fela was no doubt a legend during and after his lifetime and Mr veal captured that well. I very good read - a must read for any african/african american youth.

Everybody Say YEAH YEAH!!
First I 'd like to thank Michael Veal for the work he did on this book. It is the best book I have read so far. My parents are Nigerian, however I have lived in the US all my life. I have always been a big fan of Fela (introduced to his music by my Dad), but never fully understood the reason he did some things he did, or some of his lyrics. Now I do. The book is really deep-rooted, cutting across all boudries, giving me an insight into Nigeria and the man called FELA in a way nobody has ever been able to. This book has changed my attitude towards life forever. May God bless Fela, and may he rest in peace forever!

Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense
A timely exploration of the father of Afro-beat. Veal, who we learn had occasion to play with Fela and spent time at the Shrine, is obviously a fan of the music and his enthusiasm is palpable. Veal's work is distinguished on many levels. As an ethnomusicologist, Veal offers rigorous descriptions and insights into the compositional aspects of Fela's work. We are given the specifics of Fela's innovations and refinements with Afro-beat. Veal locates Fela's accomplishments within the context of its forbears (E.T. Mensah, James Brown, John Coltrane, etc.)and 20th century African/Afrodiaporic music in general. From Nkrumah to Obasanjo, Veal's discussion of Nigerian/African culture and politics is well researched and thoughtful. There are great nuggets of biographical information from Fela's brief feud with Paul McCartney to November 14th, "Fela Day" in Berkeley (go figure). Veal offers a wealth of information on Fela's family and the impact his parents (his mother in particular) had on his musical and political development. We get the blow-by-blow account of Fela's confrontations with the Nigerian authorities (often, as with the Kalakuta Massacre, in harrowing detail). On the critical throretical tip, Veal 'samples' Gilroy, Jameson, Fanon, Spivak (and others), engaging in a extended discussion of Fela's compositions as postcolonial 'texts.' Though at times distractingly academic, Veal is rigorous in his deconstruction of Fela and gender, the "specific symbolic and psychological functions" of strategic historical essentialism, mysticism, etc., avoiding the cheap and oversimplistic assessments that often surround the man (often, as Veal notes, in service of hegemonic notions of "civilization"). There is much I loved about this book: the bits about Fela's "punk" approach, the rejoinder to jazzbo(zos) and their complaints about the lack of technical virtuosity in Fela's playing, the similarities between Fela's work and blaxploitation cinema, the Yoruban (tragic) basis of his music, his later compositions as underrated "African symphonies." Veal isn't afraid to write about Fela's misguided relationship with Professor Hindu, the emptiness of Fela's vaguely anarchic rhetoric as a concrete political agenda (Fela wasn't kidding about his aspirations), the problematics of Fela's lifestyle (too much pot, rampant and unprotected sex) and the effect of his lifestyle on his wives. I would have liked to have seen more on the parallels between Fela's development of Afro-beat and the stylistic exchanges with the J.B.s, and the Afrodiasporic interchanges that led to the development of hip-hop and modern dancehall. More on Dennis Bovell's involvement with Fela and more than passing reference to the Biafran conflict. The passage on Fela's continuing influence (and the intense rediscovery taking place as we speak by a new generation of musicians and music lovers) is all too brief. But these are minor quibbles. Veal has written a marvelous book on a man who was, by turns, confrontational, generous, autocratic, wild, and always brilliant. Essential reading on an essential figure. Long live Fela!

An excellent biography of a great African musician
This book is possibly the best biography of any African musician I have read (I've also read biographies/autobiographies of Franco, Miriam Makeba, Manu Dibango and a different one on Fela). If all you know of Fela Kuti is the sensationalized stuff (i.e. 27 wives, pot smoking, etc.), it would make sense to publish this alongside all the cheap and easy bios of other controversial pop stars. But when you really get into the Fela story it is complex, encompassing Nigerian music, Nigerian and African politics, and the influence of African-American culture and politics in Africa. I think the author has done an admirable job and produced an African biography that will stand the test of time.

It's about time!
Fela is almost as important as Bob Marley in the world of black music, but no one has really written a serious book about him until now, and Michael Veal's book is an excellent one in my opinion. Sometimes it's a bit academic but it still provides a lot of detail on Fela's entire life, on the music of his entire career, and all of the Nigerian political backgound, which is substantial. I love Fela's music and I knew he was a legend, but I never quite realized how he put his life on the line to make the music he made and say the things he said, and how heavy it became between him and the Nigerian government. And I also never realized how crazy he was - not surprising considering the fact that he was a brilliant (insane?) artist, and also considering how heavy things became as time went on. That this man managed to survive as long as he did and turn out so much great music is nothing short of miraculous! I think the book is an invaluable document of the political and musical legacy of the 1960s as it developed in Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. I learned a lot about Africa, not only musically but culturally and politically too. ... Read more

Book Description

The bestseller that reminded us what it means to be anAmerican is more timely than ever in this updated and enlarged edition,including "Schlesinger's Syllabus," an annotated reading list of corebooks on the American experience. The classic image of the Americannation-a melting pot in which differences of race, wealth, religion, andnationality are submerged in democracy-is being replaced by an orthodoxythat celebrates difference and abandons assimilation. While this upsurgein ethnic awareness has had many healthy consequences in a nation shamedby a history of prejudice, the cult of ethnicity, if pressed too far,threatens to fragment American society to a dangerous degree. Two-timePulitzer Prize winner in history and adviser to the Kennedy and otheradministrations, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., is uniquely positioned towave the caution flag in the race to a politics of identity. Using abroader canvas in this updated and expanded edition, he examines theinternational dimension and the lessons of one polyglot country afteranother tearing itself apart or on the brink of doing so: among them theformer Yugoslavia, Nigeria, even Canada. Closer to home, he findstroubling new evidence that multiculturalism gone awry here in the UnitedStates threatens to do the same. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

It's sad that this book is probably controversial
I found Arthur Schlesinger's survey of multiculturalism in America to be a welcome and refreshing monograph. The Disuniting of America ' aptly titled ' is a clear headed and straightforward account of how and why the country is are genuinely threatened by the intellectual descendents of the cultural sensitivities that allowed us to shake off (mostly) generations of intolerance and bigotry.

Half cheerleading for American history, Schlesinger shows that America is indeed become fractured along whatever lines ' ethnic, racial, religious to some extent ' people can dream up. This is not, repeat not, the logical consequence of our national awakening of the sixties. More and more we find in America groups choosing isolation and the politics of mass attack.

As a distinguished historian, Schlesinger has countless examples of how the national ideology was formed very early in our history. Citing de Tocqueville and others less famous, he shows how wild and revolutionary was the idea then, and quite a bit now, that a nation could form basing personal identity not on religion, or tribe, or language, but on the 'melting pot' as it came to be known. E pluribus unum, from many one, is changed today so often to just pluribus.

In more concrete terms, we get a review of how multiculturalism's worst self satire has become the norm in, for example, education, a subject discussed at great length. We see how history, an old and distinguished practice, is becoming polluted by charlatans who consider it more important to promote myths that to report on reality. When self-esteem becomes the motivating goal behind primary school history lessons, and the past itself becomes something of an obstacle, we can be sure that something is seriously wrong.

Of course, what makes Disuniting special is the author. Besides being a noted liberal, something the reader is never tempted to forget, he is also a clear-headed thinker and writer. This is not just a collection of anecdotes, indistinguishable from a Rush Limbaugh rant or off-the-cuff blog from the National Review. This is a warning from someone smart enough to realize, and articulate enough to express, that the answer to white on black racism is not black on white racism. That maximum tolerance for new ways of thinking and living does not mean minimal tolerance for old ways. And to return to the original and dominant theme, lest we Balkanize (or even Rwanda-ize) our own country, and turn into a land where crackpot religious leaders can condemn authors to death for writing the wrong books, let us remember that we as a country have held together now for more than two centuries by, to put it succinctly, holding together. It was a strength even in the bad old days, and should be our crowning glory now.

Astute analysis from an icon.
Schlesinger isn't just "another conservative" lamenting the onslaught of multiculturalism. He genuinely believes in the now out-of-vogue "melting pot" vision of America, which obviously infuriates many modern liberals. After all, "melting pot" implies "white" and "male." Heaven forbid. Arguably, the most important aspect of the melting pot vision is the governmental and legal system of the United States. Modern liberals and various interest groups are trying to change this presently (which is their right, of course), but disturbingly trying to also rewrite its history. For instance, as Schlesinger writes, the New York State curriculum has mandated that study of the American Founding include reference to the "Haudenosaunee political system" -- in effect, the Iroquois Confederation. Schlesinger correctly notes that this "influence" on the Constitution's Framers was "marginal," and on European intellectuals it was non-existent. (After all, wasn't it virtually only Ben Franklin's quote, after visiting the Iroquois, that said essentially, "If they can do [create a confederation], why can't we?") But, no other state has as effective an Iroquois lobby as New York.

racist reality not confronted
I totally agree with the last comment. A lot of you gave this book five stars because you feel "minorities" are acting paranoid, acting out. You're thinking, i've never had a racist thought in my life! Never called anybody names! My people give other peoples freedom, gives them jobs, saves their souls, and do nice things like correcting their English. if you say that, then chances are you don't have any close friends who are not "White." If you say you do, then they probably act and speak like you. It's time for American writers to start talking about racial conflict in this divided nation openly, instead of pumping out these passive-agressive texts using political correct language. Thumbs down to Schlesinger's one-sided book.

No, thank you
This book... where to even start. I think it would be very easy to accept what this book says if you had never really studied American history from a non-white perspective.
He never explores the creation of a white America. He does not acknowledge the violence of assimilation. He almost completely disregards non-European immigrations. He never questions the myths of white America.
Reading this book, I was convinced that he was a conservative.

A Book that Affirms or Insults, Depending on Who You Are
As a Non-white person living in America in 2004, finding myself bombarded by racist messages on television, in movies, at work, and in private social interactions, I can honestly say I don't care very much about whether Schlesinger's version of America stays in tact. I say, let institutionalized racism fall apart as soon as possible! As a nation that deeply wants to be recognized as a democracy, Americans can no longer ask, with a straight face, as the author does, that non-white people accept second-class citizenship. Or can we? Is taking pride in democracy the same thing as taking pride in "Western democracy?" The author has yet to reconcile his sense of Western cultural superiority from his publicly declared egalitarian values. In sum, the political correctness of this book does not address the underlying racism, which is hidden because it challenges the moral consistency of Schlesinger's thought. I hope these comments add new analytical dimensions to some readers' interpretations of his works. ... Read more

Book Description

A comprehensive study of Yoruba, including a survey of the major Orishas, the deified spirits of ancestors and other spirits, the minor Orishas, details of priesthood and worship, the Yoruba conception of human beings, magic in Yorubaland, and the survival of hieroglyphics, emblems and other symbols.A scholarly work. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Be careful
Mr Lucas is influenced by Christianity and has mixed it into his views of Ifa. Good info when sifted well. Eat the meat toss the bones away.

Supreme Spiritual Awakening for all "Africans"-in America
This important spiritual awakening is necessity for the souls of blacks, in America. Is has a vast amount of history as to how God's power affects nature, man, and spirituality. It sufficiently explains the relationship between Ancient Egypt and the religion of Southern Nigeria, in addition to providing detailed steps, measures, practices, and initiation into the religion. I highly recommend this book to those who seek to grow into a mature relationship with Ifa and their ancesters, etc. ... Read more

Book Description

The events that led up to dissident writer Ken Saro-Wiwa's execution on November 10, 1995, mark Nigeria's decline from a post-colonial success story to its current military dictatorship. Few writers have been more outspoken in decrying and lamenting this decline than Nobel Prize laureate and Nigerian exile Wole Soyinka.

In The Open Sore of a Continent, Soyinka, whose own Nigerian passport was confiscated by General Abacha in 1994, explores the history and future of Nigeria in a compelling jeremiad that is as intense as it is provocative, learned, and wide-ranging. He deftly explains the shifting dramatis personae of Nigerian history and politics to Westerners unfamiliar with the players and the process, tracing the growth of Nigeria as a player in the world economy.And, in the process of elucidating the Nigerian crisis, Soyinka opens readers to the broader questions of nationhood, identity, and the general state of African culture and politics at the end of the twentieth century. Here are a range of issues that investigate the interaction of peoples who have been shaped by the clash of cultures: nationalism, power, corruption, violence, and the enduring legacy of colonialism. Soyinka concludes with a resounding call for the global community to address the issue of nationhood to prevent further religious tyrannies and calls for ethnic purity of the sort that have turned Algeria, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Sri Lanka into killing fields.

An important and timely volume, The Open Sore of a Continent is required reading for anyone who cares about Africa, human rights, and the future of the global village. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Thought Provoking
I read the book with the goal of learning more about Nigeria and its people. Obviously this book is from a very biased source, however, in reading of the horrors in his native land his bias is understandble and only logical. There is a lot of pathos, intense emotions in his description of the crisis in Nigeria. As a scholar/journalist I like to hear all sides of a complex issue so I feel like I've heard one perspective from a first-hand witness after having read this book.

As some of the other reviewers have pointed out, unless one is familiar with the key players in Nigerian politics it is difficult to grasp totally what is being discussed. Also, since the book is composed of various presentations given elsewhere it lacks a certain amount of cohesion.

With that aside, I feel like I know a little more about the country after having read it. The book isn't long. As I read more I hope to understand more of what is taking place in that country. I want to be part of an informed public that can help do something about the plight of victims of dictators.

Appropriately disturbing and illuminating
Soyinka wastes no words. In this book, based on a series of lectures, he argues that the ruthlessness of the military dictatorships that have ruled Nigeria for the past twenty years have deprived her of her very nationhood. At the very beginning, Soyinka asks the key question: "When is a nation?" He argues that Nigeria may be "a nation on the verge of extinction" - or rather a nation that was serverly stabbed with the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections, and is now slowly bleeding to death. This annulment by Babangida, dictator from 1985 - 1993, is the focal point for Soyinka's rage. Soyinka is a very strong proponent of democracy in Africa - especially in Nigeria, which he still believes could be a leader of the continent - and he views this annulment as a profound betrayal of national trust and of Nigeria's future. However, despite his anger and his bitterness at the injustices that have been Nigeria's fate since independence, Soyinka retains hope and faith in the people of Nigeria. He believes that repression and corruption cannot last forever - democracy and true nationhood, while difficult to attain, have not been forever lost to history.

While I found this book excellent, I would not recommend it to someone who was not already somewhat familiar with Nigerian political and cultural history over the last thirty years. Also, it is helpful if the reader is familiar either with Soyinka's work or with somewhat convoluted writing. Soyinka's ideas are well worth reading and stem from remarkable personal experiences, but, from point A to point B - he will not usually choose to draw a straight line. Reflective of Nigerian politics, and Nigeria as a whole, nothing is simple!

I hope other readers will learn as much from this book as I have. It has opened my eyes to what the newspaper articles simply leave out and has given me both more to be concerned and more to be hopeful about Nigeria.

The Sore of a Continent as rippled by an Individual
Wole Soyinka is one of the foremost African literary giant of modern times. He has an intellectual stature that seems to diminish his critiques. To Wole's credit this book ranks among one of his best work- this is simply because it is readable. The reduction of noisy elements by its simplicity of expression makes it one of his finest piece to date, at least I was spared the pain of reading the Kongi King without a dictionary by my side. The book- understandably like his later work to date- The Burden of Memory, The Muse of Forgiveness- is the prooduct of lectures put together, hence one can forgive its lack of structural cohesion. Nonetheless, Soyinka brings to the fore the African crises of leadership and the dearth of critical appraisal of existential situation by African leaders. In as much as the text depicts examples it preoccupied itself with the Nigerian situation. Unfortunately, therefore, Soyinka risks tying the African destiny with the Nigerian fate- the totality of the African situation is much more multilateral than the unilateral reference to a singular polity Nigeria. As if this is a a new pattern for the Kongi King he keeps limiting himself to the extent that even the Nigerian situation was tied to the fate of his Yoruba nationality- ethnic group. This is not surprising since the Kongi Warrior has been sliding narrower from that of being an international figure to one preoccupied with being a national hero( a national road safety marshall) and now a nationality figurine. Our marshall therefore has taken a course that simplistically narrows the whole issues that affects Africa to particular issues that affects him. Unfortunately, the Kongi hero is still speaking and relating factual mattter, and so should not be taken lightly. The problem with Africa is one of political and economic leadership-a bedevilled breed of satanic monster that do not want to see smiles on the face of the citizenry. It is in this domain that the Kongi Chief should be better understood. Yes! His limitation of African issues to Nigerian examples and ordered toward his Yoruba nationality cause is also theatrical. As a dramaturgist he understands that the whole world can be a theatre but that an effective drama has to be limited to a spatial confine to produce impact. It is on such note that the Kongi chief points to the negative imagery of defective political machinery in Africa as gross and in critical need of resolution. It is this fact that makes this work- The Open Sore of a Continent- very fascinating for herein Soyinka combines facts with his dramatic humour for the sake of effect. While one may not totally agree with some of Soyinka's reasoning or conclusions one cannot but wave his thoughts aside.His vision is deep and profound. This work is a must for all who want to understand the critical dearth of development- political, economic and social- that affects and afflicts the soul of most- if not all- African nations today. It is a must to read this book, yet the judgement remains with the reader. But we must see how much we can pull out from the mustache of this singular revolutionary- the Poetic and dramatic democratic soldier. Happy Reading!

mmmmm, enlightening ?
WS partisan whipping of the Northern Hegemony provides the outside world with an eloquent morsel of that which has become a tiresome bleating of a fraught people with no real notion of being. Interogating nationhood using Nigeria's artificiality seems the obvious approach However one must also realise that governance in all it's disguises reflects a mutuality however perverse. Nigeria's insanity cannot be a consequence of a 'sinister self perpetuating hegemony', but of a collective effort by rulers and ruled to bankrupt their existence. It points to an incoherence which reaches beyond the presented structures and nestles within a muddled culture construct in search of a direction.

One must thank WS for presenting what must be consumed as 'faction' for in its whole, it is illuminating. However it cannot be termed as objective, as WS seems to represents interests whose agenda conflicts with the established order or does he? Does he really mean what he says? The collective of Nigeria must experience natural flux however extreme and painful, we shall not implode or explode . Been there, Done that, Still here!

Interesting,a must read for anybody interested in Nigeria
This book by Wole Soyinka is reccomended for anybody who is remotely intersted in finding out how a nation that was once on an upward tragectory in the 60's & 70's has wound up being a confused and financially bankrupt nation inspite of being the world's sixth largest oil producer.He introduces the dramatis personnae in a way that is uniquely Soyinkaesque.It is actually a collection of essays that has as it,s main theme the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections,other issues explored include the National question which has come to the fore after the annulment and the collapse of all infrastructure-Education,Health,Agriculture.He also discusses the mistrial and eventual judicial murder of Ken Saro Wiwa.This is butressed by the report of the Queen's counsel who observed the trial.The earler political experience is also visited i.e the 1979- 83period.The book is aptly dedicated to the conscience of the nation the late Dr Tai Solarin.The book is highly reccomended but not for the linguistically challenged. ... Read more

Book Description

More personally revealing than anything Achebe has written, Home and Exile-the great Nigerian novelist's first book in more than ten years-is a major statement on the importance of stories as real sources of power, especially for those whose stories have traditionally been told by outsiders.

In three elegant essays, Achebe seeks to rescue African culture from narratives written about it by Europeans. Looking through the prism of his experiences as a student in English schools in Nigeria, he provides devastating examples of European cultural imperialism. He examines the impact that his novel Things Fall Apart had on efforts to reclaim Africa's story. And he argues for the importance of writing and living the African experience because, he believes, Africa needs stories told by Africans.
... Read more

Reviews (4)

Long Live our blessed Statesman and elder
Long live the proud son of Africa and our respected statesman.
Achebe the honest and truthful dispenser of both sides of the story. Colonial griots (to borrow Achebe's words) such as Elspeth Huxley and other apologists have for too long been left alone to justify the dispossession of precious lands and cultures. Until the proud son of Africa made them eat their own words and exposed them for what they are. Dishonest griots deftly laying the groundwork for self-enrichment at the expense of peace loving and decent Human Beings.
Chinua Achebe as exemplified by his few but precious books writes not to make money but only when he must say something useful. Unlike modern day "authors" who are more about money than substance. I have no doubt Achebe can write profound and moving accounts of African and world issues at the rate of one book a day but he chose only to spend his time teaching.
It is obvious why the Nobel Prize went to Wole Soyinka instead of Chinua Achebe. Achebe refuses to write for a "foreign" audience and does not take his marching orders from anybody. He is his own man. Africans and honest people all over the world have in their own ways given Achebe the best prize in the world.
Continuous interest in his worthwhile classics such as Things Fall Apart,The Man of the People,No longer at Ease,Anthills of the Savannah, Morning Yet on Creation Day,Hopes and Impediments and many others.

Home and Exile may be a small book but has enough three pence (from Achebes "somebody knock me down and have three pence!") to liberate nations and individuals from the grip and stench of colonial and racist apologia masquerading as literature.

Long live Achebe, proud son of Africa and citizen of the world.
To know Achebe (by reading his books) is to know how to be an unassuming and proud Human Being who quitely and calmly states his truth for the benefit of us all.

A Great Peice of Compact History
Achebe's work was informative, thought provocing, and at times amusing. His work is another example of how important it is for all people to tell their own story/history, especially people who were once disposessed. This little book inspired me to write a few ideas to prevent my experiences from being misinterpreted.

Insightful ramblings from the ascetic, Achebe
The physical brevity of Achebe's "autobiography" truly belies the intrisic wisdom he so effortlessly spews upon his listeners. Mr. Achebe sets out to deconstruct the manifold, post-colonial ills (endemic to the dispossessed of African diasopora) with the assistance of historical literature, creation fables, and his own personal memories. Indeed, a thought provoking manifesto for any fan of the great Achebe; one which will aid the reader to pursue further literature with a new sense of enlightenment.

Home and Exile
Excellent! Achebe has done it again. This is a must read! ... Read more

Book Description

A journey into contemporary Africa's most powerful and most corrupt nation.

To understand Africa, one must understand Nigeria, and few Americans understand Nigeria better than Karl Maier. This House Has Fallen is a bracing and disturbing report on the state of Africa's most populous, potentially richest, and most dangerously dysfunctional nation.

Each year, with depressing consistency, Nigeria is declared the most corrupt state in the entire world. Though Nigeria is a nation into which billions of dollars of oil money flow, its per capita income has fallen dramatically in the past two decades. Military coup follows military coup. A bellwether for Africa, it is a country of rising ethnic tensions and falling standards of living, very possibly on the verge of utter collapse -- a collapse that could dramatically overshadow even the massacres in Rwanda.

A brilliant piece of reportage and travel writing, This House Has Fallen looks into the Nigerian abyss and comes away with insight, profound conclusions, and even some hope. Updated with a new preface by the author. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

You Are Welcome, Maier Cracks A Bit of Nigeria's Problems
Living in Nigeria leaves one drained, confused and fascinated. Nigeria is like watching a car crash every day; you cannot help but to watch despite the blood and carnage. Mr. Maier's lively account of daily scences in Nigeria is a accessible read for anyone, even those who never set foot in Nigeria or could care less about Africa's problems. A case in point is Maier's visit to former military President Babangida. The President sat in his chalet a few hours drive from Nigeria's capital Abuja, charming, sly, friendly and happy with the billions of dollars he stold from the Nigerian people. In fact, Babangida is set to make another run for President in 2007. Maier allows the former President to talk and expose the underbelly of most Nigerian leaders, avarice, self-righteousness and the ability to buy people off with the money taken from government coffers. In fact, be it Obasanjo, Abacha, Buhari or any other military leader or newly minted democratic leaders, they are all the same people, in the same big seats, stealing the same people and country blind. Sad, but Nigeria. Maier allows the reader in to see Nigeria from Abuja to Minna to Lagos; it is a great read and essential for anyone coming to Nigeria.

You are Welcome!! Nigeria, what a country and what a mess.

old wine in new skin
I bought This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in Crisis (Maier, 2003) after reading This house has fallen: Midnight in Nigeria (Maier, 2000). To my surprise, the texts were identical, save for the title and cover picture. Was it the intention of the publishers and the author to reproduce the 2000 publication word for word under a different title? I hope not, but I look forward to hearing from them on this medium since I have not been able to reach them otherwise.

A suberb account of a neglected nation
The title suggests the disturbing and eloquent rendering of midnight in Nigeria that this book provides. Maier's writing has continued to develop since his two earlier books to create one of the few magnificent accounts of contemporary African politics. Stories from Nigeria's colonial and post-colonial past are seamlessly linked to Maier's own travels. This book is just as important as Philip Gourevitch's account of Rwandan politics, and should be read by everyone.
For an interesting and thoughtful review of this book you should also see the The Economist's website.

Not great, not totally worthless either
A pretty poor book.

Like many journalists wanting to publish a book, Maier has strung together what appears to be a series of previously published articles. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work, as there is no real theme or structure to the book, and it doesn't really seem to have a purpose beyond rehashing old articles. (It might have been more interesting if the articles were published as they were originally, although perhaps that would have been too revealing).

Even more annoyingly, no-one at the publishing house seems to have bothered reading it before sending it to the printers: it's full of stupid mistakes which should have been picked up by the editors (it's "Royal Dutch/Shell", not "Royal/Dutch Shell" - a bit embarrassing when you write a whole chapter about them) and pointless repetition which betrays the fact that this is just a cut 'n' paste of old work (how many times do we need to be told the Mobile Police's nickname is "Kill & Go"? How many times do we need to be told Fela Kuti is an 'Afrobeat superstar'?).

Laughably, the man uses the word "literally" without ever really understanding what it means. There is one section where he writes about a multi-ethnic, bustling city in which "churches and mosques literally elbow each other for room"! (sorry - can't remember the exact phrase - I don't have my copy with me).

It's unfortunate that this book has come out so badly - the author obviously knows lots about Nigeria - but it just seems rushed and aimless. Perhaps if it was thoroughly rewritten or properly edited it would be more worthwhile. ... Read more

Book Description

This succinct, authoritative, and engagingly written history of Nigeria from its earliest beginnings through 1998 provides an excellent introduction to the country's history. Constructed around the two interrelated themes of politics and the economy, it relates the development of the Nigerian people from antiquity through the end of 1998. Following a timeline of events in the history of Nigeria, Professor Falola, a leading historian on Nigeria and a distinguished Africanist, provides a readable, coherent narrative that carefully integrates the past into the present to help the student and general reader understand the forces at play in the development of the country throughout its long history. Biographical sketches of notable Nigerians, maps, and a bibliographical essay will aid the beginning researcher. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

In the quest to promote "universal knowledge" and create Western institutions in Africa, the intellectual contributions of Africans without university certificates or connections to the academy have been maligned, ignored or slighted. Yet, as Toyin Falola's book points out, there are African scholars and thinkers without academic credentials doing important works. Here is a book that shows that intellectual contributions need not be divorced from the concerns of local communities or deliberately promote narrative inequality and distance. ... Read more

Book Description

This stunning narrative marked the turning point in the writing career of FrederickForsyth, who subsequently wrote The Dogs of War and The Day of the Jackal. Previously, Forsyth had been a journalist but his book on Biafra marked his remarkable debut as an author. Largely forgotten today, Biafra was a breakaway province of Nigeria and the scene of a bloody civil war in the 1960s. Biafra's population largely consisted of the minority Ibo people, who were in revolt against Nigeria's majority Hausa and Fulani people. While the world community today looks with more favor on secessionist regimes, in the 1960s, both East and West united against Biafra, with only France providing assistance to the rebels.

Biafra's defeat was followed by a series of massacres by both official and mutinous Nigerian troops, further compounded by disease and famine. This disturbing work has been unavailable for 20 years, but now has come back into print when its relevance to a world of civil wars and ethnic cleansing is greater than ever. This narrative of Third World civil strife and Great Power duplicity is made even more compelling by the skills of a master storyteller. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The best chronicle of the suffering of the igbo people
Mr. Forsyth in this book became the voice of millions of suffering Biafrans whose sin was a determination to exist against all odds.

His analysis captured the brutality of the Nigerian soldiers while the rest of the world fell victim to the deceit of the pronouncements of the Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces...General Yakubu Gowon.

Unjustly forgotten classic of the Biafran War
Forsyth is known for his later works the "Day of the Jackal", "Odessa File" and "Dogs of War". This though is his first book and in many ways superior to the rest.

A non-fiction detailed description of the Biafran war, Forsyth pulls no punches describing the valiant but fruitless fight by the Ibo tribe to secede from Nigeria. Outnumbered, outgunned and out financed by the central government, the Ibo finally fell because of the support of the European powers for Nigeria.

Forsyth does a wonderful job in giving us a journalist eye view of the conflict which eventually became known more for the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Ibo. A long forgotten classic that has never been outdone by his later novels. ... Read more

Book Description

This is a coming-of-age self account by Nigerian poet and literary scholar, Tanure Ojaide in which he recalls his humble but happy childhood days during the 1950s and 60s in his homeland in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The childhood memoirs portrays the traditional African setting of pre-colonial times and ponders over the social transformations, mostly negative, which have since taken place in the country as a result of "modernization." ... Read more