A collection of eighteen essays that critically examine Chinua Achebe's life and first novel, "Things Fall Apart," discussing the novel's depiction of colonialism and the impact it had on the traditional values of the Igbo community.

Chapter 1. Background on Chinua Achebe. 1. The life of Chinua Achebe / G.D. Killam -- 2. Chinua Achebe's philosophy of fiction / Jerome Brooks, interviewing Chinue Achebe -- 3. Achebe feels a special commitment as an African writer / Romanus Okey Muoneke. Chapter 2. Things Fall Apart and colonialism. 1. Okonkwo's actions foreshadow colonialism's impact on traditional values / Christopher Heywood -- 2. Okonkwo's loss of identity parallels the experience of colonized Africans / Ifeoma Onyemelukwe -- 3. Language conveys male Africans' and colonists' power / Ada Uzoamaka Azodo -- 4. Women play a key role in the community depicted in Things Fall Apart / Linda Strong-Leek -- 5. Achebe does not idealize precolonial and postcolonial Igbo society / G.D. Killam -- 6. Igbo and European cultures clash -- Willene P. Taylor -- 7. Okonkwo's tragedy is not due to colonialism / Umelo Ojinmah -- 8. The white man redeemed Igbo society / Romanus Okey Muoneke -- 9. Three distinct endings present a layered approach to the colonized experience / Richard Begam. Chapter 3. Contemporary perspectives on colonialism. 1. Foreign aid is a twenty-first-century form of colonialism / John A. Burton -- 2. The one laptop per child project is a form of colonialism / Stanley Douglas Stych -- 3. Norfolk Islanders resist colonization by Australia / Kathy Marks -- 4. French revisionists attempted to defend colonialism in Africa / Julio Godoy -- 5. The first woman elected president in Africa is called a neocolonialist / Kuumba Chi Nia -- 6. The United Nations wants to force liberation on unwilling colonies / Ian Mather.