Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

Surviving biafra: a Nigerwife's story

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: Hurst Publishers 2018 LondonDescription: xiv, 238 p. Includes illustrations, notes bibliography and indexISBN:
  • 9781849049580
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 966.9052092 B4S8
Summary: In 1961, Rosina ‘Rose’ Martin married John Umelo, a young Nigerian she met on a London Tube station platform, eventually moving to Nigeria with him and their children. As Rose taught Classics in Enugu, they found themselves caught up in Nigeria’s Civil War, which followed the 1967 secession of Eastern Nigeria—now named Biafra. The family fled to John’s ancestral village, then moved from place to place as the war closed in. When it ended in 1970, up to 2 million had died, most from starvation. Rose (‘worse off than some, better off than many’) had kept notes, capturing the reality of living in Biafra—from excitement in the beginning to despair towards the end. Immediately after the war, Rose turned her notes into a narrative that described the ingenious ways Biafrans made do, still hoping for victory while their territory shrank and children starved by the thousand. Now, anthropologist, S. Elizabeth Bird contextualises Rose’s story, providing background on the progress of the war and international reaction to it. Edited and annotated, Rose’s vivid account of life as a Biafran ‘Nigerwife’ offers a fresh, new look at hope and survival through a brutal war. https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/surviving-biafra/
Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.
Star ratings
    Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)
Holdings
Item type Current library Item location Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Vikram Sarabhai Library Rack 46-A / Slot 2556 (3rd Floor, East Wing) Non-fiction General Stacks 966.9052092 B4S8 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 200964

In 1961, Rosina ‘Rose’ Martin married John Umelo, a young Nigerian she met on a London Tube station platform, eventually moving to Nigeria with him and their children. As Rose taught Classics in Enugu, they found themselves caught up in Nigeria’s Civil War, which followed the 1967 secession of Eastern Nigeria—now named Biafra. The family fled to John’s ancestral village, then moved from place to place as the war closed in. When it ended in 1970, up to 2 million had died, most from starvation. Rose (‘worse off than some, better off than many’) had kept notes, capturing the reality of living in Biafra—from excitement in the beginning to despair towards the end.
Immediately after the war, Rose turned her notes into a narrative that described the ingenious ways Biafrans made do, still hoping for victory while their territory shrank and children starved by the thousand. Now, anthropologist, S. Elizabeth Bird contextualises Rose’s story, providing background on the progress of the war and international reaction to it. Edited and annotated, Rose’s vivid account of life as a Biafran ‘Nigerwife’ offers a fresh, new look at hope and survival through a brutal war.

https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/surviving-biafra/

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.