Anthills of the Savannah – Chinua Achebe – Anchor Pres Doubleday – 1988 – Dura

**Anthills of the Savannah**: In one of the year's major publishing events, Chinua Achebe presents his long-awaited new work, Anthills of the Savannah.
The author of such modern classics as Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, and A man of the people returns to his native Africa to bell a story of love and friendship; betrayal; and sudden, violent death. Using the conflict between the city and tribal villages, the ravages of the great African drought, and Third World politics as a compelling backdrop, Achebe weaves a potent drama of modern Africa.
Two years after the military coup that swept a brilliant young army officer to power, an uneasy calm reigns in the fictional African state of Kangan. The new leader's failure to be proclaimede President-for-Life has left him fearful and embittered, and now those who helped put him in power- suddenly find themselves helpless targets of his brutal rage.

There is Chris Oriko, who knows his days are numbered as his former schoolmate degenerates into a ruthless dictator ... Ikem Osodi, poet and editor of the local National Gazette, whose trusting heart struggles to believe that the truth of the printed word may yet influence his corrupted childhood companion ... and Beatrice Okoh, Chris's lover, a strong, beautiful woman whose singular insight and wisdom may hold the key to surviving the cruelties of her troubled country.

Anthills of the Savannah is a masterful story of contemporary Africa; angry, disenchanted, full of savage irony, yet, ultimately, filled whith hope. And as Chinua Achebe lyrically explores the devastating political and emotional turmoil of his homeland, he offers a timeless contribution to contemporary literature.