Annotation Achebe writes of the old Africa and the new, tribal warfare and the war that goes on in people's hearts. His story takes place two years after a military coup in the mythical West African state of Kangan, and shows the transformation of a brilliant young.

No justification is needed for the selection of the much-studied but inexhaustible general theme of the new annual publication. Orientations: the history of the numerous and multifarious relations and contacts between the Middle East and the West, political, economic, cultural and literary. In the first volume, entitled The Middle East and Europe: Encounters and Exchanges, Jacques Waardenburg provides a broad survey of Muslim attitudes towards other religions in the medieval period. Mercedes García-Arenal compares the methods of Spanish conquest and evangelization in Spain and in the New World. The Dutch share in the 17th-century slave trade in Yemen is studied by C.G. Brouwer. The life of Ahmad ibn Qasim ibn al-Hajari, born in Spain, living in Morocco, and a traveller in France and the Low Countries in the early 17th century, is the subject of an article by Gerard Wiegers. The experiences of Egyptians who visited France in the 19th and early 20th centuries are discussed by Ed de Moor. Rotraud Wielandt explores the concept of the Enlightenment in the works of the 19th-century Syrian writer Marrash. Bassam Tibi analyzes the contemporary Muslim fundamentalist response to the challenge of modernity.

Since the emergence of Things Fall Apart in 1958, Chinua Achebe has come to be regarded by many as the 'Godfather' of modern African writing. Over 150 full length studies of his work have been published, together with many hundreds of scholarly articles. This Reader's Guide enables students to navigate the rich and bewildering field of Achebe criticism, setting out the key areas of critical debate, the most influential alternative approaches to his work and the controversies that have so often surrounded it. The Guide examines Achebe's key novels - with the main focus on Things Fall Apart - and also discusses his less well-known short fiction. Including discussion of important Nigerian scholarship that is often inaccessible, this is an invaluable introduction to the work of one of Africa's most important and popular writers.

The present volume is a highly comprehensive assessment of the postcolonial short story since the thirty-six contributions cover most geographical areas concerned. Another important feature is that it deals not only with exclusive practitioners of the genre (Mansfield, Munro), but also with well-known novelists (Achebe, Armah, Atwood, Carey, Rushdie), so that stimulating comparisons are suggested between shorter and longer works by the same authors. In addition, the volume is of interest for the study of aspects of orality (dialect, dance rhythms, circularity and trickster figure for instance) and of the more or less conflictual relationships between the individual (character or implied author) and the community. Furthermore, the marginalized status of women emerges as another major theme, both as regards the past for white women settlers, or the present for urbanized characters, primarily in Africa and India. The reader will also have the rare pleasure of discovering Janice Kulik Keefer's “Fox,” her version of what she calls in her commentary “displaced autobiography’” or “creative non-fiction.” Lastly, an extensive bibliography on the postcolonial short story opens up further possibilities for research.

Several hundred A-Z entries cover Achebe's major works, important characters and settings, key concepts and issues, and more. Though best known as a novelist, Achebe is also a critic, activist, and spokesman for African culture. This reference is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to his life and writings. Included are several hundred alphabetically arranged entries. Some of these are substantive summary discussions of Achebe's major works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Entries are written by expert contributors and close with brief bibliographies. The volume also provides a general bibliography and chronology. Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe is widely regarded as the most important of the numerous African novelists who gained global attention in the second half of the 20th century. Achebe is certainly the African writer best known in the West, and his first novel, Things Fall Apart, is a founding text of postcolonial African literature and regarded as one of the central works of world literature of the last 50 years. Though best known as a novelist, Achebe is also a critic, activist, and spokesman for African culture. This reference is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to his life and writings. Included are several hundred alphabetically arranged entries. Some of these are substantive summary discussions of Achebe's major works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Other topics include all of his major fictional characters and settings, important concepts and issues central to his writings, historical persons, places, and events relevant to his works, and influential texts by other writers. Entries are written by expert contributors and close with brief bibliographies. The volume also provides a general bibliography and chronology.