Surviving Biafra: A Nigerwife's Story

Description

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 contextualizes 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. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Maps Illustrations Acknowledgements Part I: The Road to Biafra Prologue: Living from Hope to Hope 1. From Colonialism to War 2. Britain and Biafra: A Postcolonial Tragedy 3. Becoming a Nigerwife Part II: A World of Our Own 4. Before the Storm 5. Nigerians All? 6. We are at War 7. Running for Home 8. In the Village 9. Learning to Make Do 10. The Hunger 11. The War Closes in 12. The Patch-Patch Life 13. A Land Army 14. Waiting it Out 15. The End in Sight? 16. And So We Survived Part III 17. After Biafra Notes Sources Consulted Bibliography Index