Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Anthills of the Savannah” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Anthills of the Savannah

by Chinua Achebe

3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 · rating details · 1,737 ratings · 90 reviews

Anthills of the Savannah is a frightening look at oil-boom Nigeria, a world of robberies, road blocks and intimidation in which those who are meant to be protecting a country's citizens are in reality supervising the looting.

Paperback, 240 pages

Published January 29th 2012 by Penguin (first published January 1st 1987)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Anthills of the Savannah, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about Anthills of the Savannah

Lists with This Book

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Africa

37th out of 846 books — 716 voters

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

Best by African Authors

16th out of 226 books — 101 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Dec 29, 2012 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1dollar-deals, mama-africa, socio-econ-politico, fiction

Three childhood friends ascend to leadership within their country and the book centers around greed and power lust, showcasing socio-economic issues and governmental corruption in some part of Africa (though the country is fictionalized), as well as what exiles must go through (or rather how hard it is to speak out against a not-so-democratic government and then attempt an escape from your homeland).

Somehow I feel as if I've committed a crime by rating an Achebe book like this--big Chinua Acheb...more

flag 5 likes · like · see review

Oct 27, 2008 Ben Dutton rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Anthills of the Savannah see Achebe returning to similar territory as his last novel, A Man of the People – politics of post-colonial Africa. Whereas A Man of the People saw events leading up to a coup, Anthills of the Savannah is post-coup. A charismatic young Sandhurst trainer army officer, known only in the novel as Sam or His Excellency, has been swept into power in the troubled state of Kangan. After he is defeated in a vital referendum, his role as dictator becomes unsteady, and there can...more

flag 2 likes · like · see review

May 25, 2013 Jen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: africa, book-club-books

I gave this book a low rating because 1) it was a bit of a let down after Things Fall Apart, and 2)it was way over my head. This book was surprisingly hard to read. I'm ashamed to say that I need someone to walk me through this book, our high school English teachers used to do. There was a message there, I know, but whatever it was I didn't fully grasp it. I felt that I might have been missing some vital clues in the pidgin dialogue that was oftentimes too hard to follow. The lack of chronology...more

flag 2 likes · like · see review

Oct 25, 2009 Jen rated it 1 of 5 stars

Painfully boring story of politics in Africa. If it had not been written like a newspaper article, if there had been some effort toward characterization or coherent plot, or explanation of the history of the circumstances described, I still would probably have disliked this book. Much time passed before I could make myself knock off the final 20 pages, not a good sign.
Story of friends who become entrenched in politics, end up double-crossing each other and fleeing from the one of them who gaine...more

flag 2 likes · like · see review

Oct 31, 2009 Madhuri rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Anthills of Savannah is a story of a nation facing the political conundrum of a new found independence. After years of ruling, it is expected that a country finds itself unable to take charge of a freedom, which it severely struggled to obtain. It is almost like you wait for exams to get over and when they are finally over you do not know how to manage the free time since you have been so focused on seeing them through that your head is heavily blocked up with that.
Achebe describes this confusio...more

flag 1 like · like · see review

Jun 16, 2009 Curtis Westman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2009

The landscape of Abazon is dry -- a parched, sun-bleached Kangan desert pockmarked by anthills. After two years without rain or aid from Bassa, the seat of power, six elders have come to the city to petition the President for help.

In his fictional African nation, Chinua Achebe presents a notion of faltering government from within and without. From the perspectives of a government Commissioner (Chris), the Editor in Chief of the national newspaper (Ikem) and the woman important to them both (Bea...more The landscape of Abazon is dry -- a parched, sun-bleached Kangan desert pockmarked by anthills. After two years without rain or aid from Bassa, the seat of power, six elders have come to the city to petition the President for help.

In his fictional African nation, Chinua Achebe presents a notion of faltering government from within and without. From the perspectives of a government Commissioner (Chris), the Editor in Chief of the national newspaper (Ikem) and the woman important to them both (Beatrice), we are shown a crumbling regime from both a humorous and a tragic point of view.

The anthills of the title, an image re-used throughout the novel, are manyfold. They represent the indecision and hesitation of government officials to question their leader, burying themselves like ants in the dry soil of the savannah. They represent cracks in the landscape brought to light by the death of vegetation because of the oppressive sun -- a metaphorical parallel to the fractures in a government exposed by incompetence from above. As in other African literature, however, as physical features of the land they also stand on their own merits -- blisters on the earth itself, a punishment from above.

Achebe's novel is difficult in that there is no moral absolute. No character is flawless and though there is a clear desire on the part of the reader for the government to fall, it is unclear what it would achieve and what would replace it. What is clear is the distinction made between the educated characters and the 'peasants' as they are known in an integral speech given by the Editor, Ikem. Not only in terms of the comparisons between how they live, but also in their speech itself.

The central group of characters around which the novel revolves speak in a formal, perfect English. The divide between class manifests itself in a dense pidgin dialect that almost makes those characters too difficult to understand. Ironically, some of the most profound statements are made by these characters, and the novel is concluded on a question phrased to an English-educated Beatrice from Ikem's girlfriend in this dialect.

In a way, it causes the reader to question the truly important characters in the novel. Chris often talks about how he, the President, and Ikem are the three most important people in Kangan, but in a way he is incorrect. Ikem's fundamentally communist ideals would argue that it is the 'peasants' and workers that are the important citizens, and indeed it is these proletariat that end up moving the plot and the fall of the government forward.

Achebe's writing often has a very distinct agenda -- a quality that his characters defend in Anthills of the Savannah as an admirable trait in itself, because everyone has an agenda; it is up to them whether or not it is advertised. In this case, forcing the reader to decipher the dialect that is in many ways completely divorced from English is paramount: at first, the dialog is so incomprehensible it feels almost natural to dismiss it, ignore it, and focus instead on what we readily understand. But, throughout reading the novel, we learn how important those characters and their words are, and sympathize with them more effectively. Though manipulative, it is a manipulation that teaches us to question our very instincts, and stays with us beyond just the reading of the novel.(less)

flag 1 like · like · see review

Jun 11, 2007 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another fantastic book by Chinua Achebe. The novel details the events leading up to a military coup from the perspective of the president's (dictator's) inner circle of college friends. The strong main female character is almost like an apology from Achebe for leaving women out of Things Fall Apart. This is a fantastic read that picks up after the first 40 pages or so.

As people who live in the U.S. we have a unique sense of political stability that we often take for granted, and this novel is a...more

flag 1 like · like · see review

May 29, 2010 Ebrim added it

while reading The Anthills of the Savannah, i so often see myself in tears. Chinua Achebe is really good at portraying the coups and counter coups that have been and continuing to occur in Africa.
it is too treble to see that Sam, the head of state is a good listener to liars and he use their information to butcher the best minister he has in his government.
i cannot stand to hear the brutal killing of Ikem, a renown editor of the national gazette. the killers do not believe that elimination of th...more

flag 1 like · like · see review

Mar 08, 2013 Ivy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I feel like this was a really great book for someone who is not me. I had a difficult time following a lot of the action--he switches POVs frequently--and the dialogue, much of which is in a pigeon dialect that has a fantastic effect but I found almost impossible to understand. The story itself is gripping, but distant. The book is more concerned with making a philosophical point than in telling a yarn.

This was a barb thrown at the heart of post-colonial Africa. Unfortunately, I was not familiar...more

flag 1 like · like · see review

Dec 29, 2008 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One thing I like about this novel is Achebe's use of creole forms. It's probably the first novel I read with extensive use of "non-standard" English, and I remember finding it a little difficult at first. I also found it intriguing, though, and that interest persists. Standards in language are overrated.

flag 1 like · like · see review

Mar 24, 2013 Isla McKetta rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don't have enough good things to say about this book and the view inside of an African dictatorship that it provided me. Achebe's death made me question my reading habits and I'm so glad I finally opened this book.

flag 1 like · like · see review

Sep 10, 2014 Vinicius Ribeiro rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: war-tales

Conformism is probably the best word to describe Chris’s behavior towards Sam—the dictator who puts himself before the nation. When Chris agrees to be a part of Sam’s commission as the Minister of Information, he was not alert to what awaited, and could hardly have predicted the riskiness in this “strange and poisonous” game, as Achebe describes it (p. 2). But it was already too late for Chris to resign his post. Staying around was the only way to guarantee his survival and find out which direct...more

flag like · see review

Feb 19, 2011 Lindsey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Achebe proves yet again that traditional tribal beliefs have a place in African modernity. A tragic, yet beautiful story of the effects of power in postcolonial Africa.

flag 1 like · like · see review

Sep 16, 2014 Marta rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: schoolschoolschool, okay, africa

Had I not read this in class, I doubt I would have understood anything. I don't think that chalks up entirely to lack of analytical skills - rather, this is simply a very difficult book to read. You are thrust in the midst of a meeting, in a first-person perspective, barely comprehending what's going on, until you go to the next chapter, which has an entirely different point of view. Needless to say, that put me off. We have 3 different character perspectives, sometimes in first, sometimes in th...more

flag like · see review

Jul 01, 2009 Michael Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Anthills of the Savannah presents the establishment and subsequent fall of a tyrannic (yet legal) regime in the fictitious country of Kangan. Having read Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Arrow of Gods, I was already aware of his storytelling mastery. With Anthills of the Savannah I was very curious how storytelling can meet the topic of ruthless politics. First, snappy anecdotes describe the birth of a tyrant, the struggle between humanity and power, and the depredation of a people. Second,...more

flag like · see review

Apr 04, 2010 Beatles24 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the best books from Africa that I have read in a long while. This is a thinly veiled commentary on Nigeria today. The storyline is reflective of Africa's prevailing political ethos: A seemingly benevolent dictator takes over from an unbiasedly corrupt "democracy"; the dictator decides to stay in power "only till conditions are restored for democracy"; people are exploited; the ruling class is full of sycophantic country brutes; intellectual opposition is snuffed out (literally) surreptiti...more One of the best books from Africa that I have read in a long while. This is a thinly veiled commentary on Nigeria today. The storyline is reflective of Africa's prevailing political ethos: A seemingly benevolent dictator takes over from an unbiasedly corrupt "democracy"; the dictator decides to stay in power "only till conditions are restored for democracy"; people are exploited; the ruling class is full of sycophantic country brutes; intellectual opposition is snuffed out (literally) surreptitiously; times are ripe for another palace coup - the list in its variants is heart breakingly similar across the TPSCDs (Tin pot so called democracies) of the world.

Achebe strives to capture this standard template of vitiation with an orginality and passion that elicits a level of empathy and passion against the ruling elite. Today's conflict in the Niger Delta (replete with a Ken Saro Wiwa like character in the book) is aptly personified in a series of conversations led by an intrepid duo of newspaper men. The logic of Achebe's arguments are powerful and easy to understand and leaves one with utter wonder at how Africa could be laid so low despite such stunning moral clarity amongst its denizens. But surely not all blame can be accumulated at the feet of the oppressors and surely it is time to get off the lazy characterization of the white west as the primary bete noire. Achebe, rather slyly though, raises the specter of a largely apathetic populace equally to blame for its wanton complicity in enabling brutality. What struck me as a bit bizarre was the juxtaposition of cutting edge morality alongside banal cruelty. The two coexist often among the same people.

The book was a delight to read if a bit disturbing and Achebe achieves (I love the alliterational possibilities on his name - I was tempted to include the word achingly in between) a sense of accomplishment, though half filled, at the end when the old dictator is liquidated in yet another coup. I will not spoil the surprise and let you find out what the collateral damage is to that. A very nice way to spend a number of late nights reading this admirable effort.(less)

flag like · see review

May 03, 2008 rabbitprincess rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: people who've already read some of Achebe's work

Recommended to rabbitprincess by: English prof

Shelves: world-lit-in-english-fall-2007, school, 2007

This was the second book studied in our World Literatures in English class. It had a tough act to follow; our first book was the most excellent Green Grass, Running Water.

Anthills takes place in a fictional African country, Kangan, after it has gained independence from Britain. It centres on three figures: Sam, the dictator of Kangan; the newspaper editor guy whose name I can't remember right this second; and Chris, the Minister for Information. The story chronicles Sam's dictatorship, circumsta...more

flag like · see review

Feb 24, 2012 Eulipion rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am an up/down reviewer; I say read. Terrific novel. Not only does it tell a thrilling political story with solid characters, but it's one that is emblematic of modern Sub-Saharan Africa. When I think of all the misery that has happened after the publication of this novel, it's a little sad to see that the hope Achebe offers the reader at the end hasn't yet been truly realized. In addition to the marvelous story is Achebe's innovative use of profiling different characters and narrative structur...more

flag like · see review

Dec 04, 2010 LeAnna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I went ahead and finished this book, even though I wasn't really enjoying it. I don't usually do that, but because it was small enough and concerned with real-life Africa, I thought I would give it a chance. I just couldn't really latch on to the style, I guess. Also, I think I'm not familiar enough with post-colonial Africa for it to make a lot of sense to me. The parts written in dialiect were really difficult to understand, and I think there is probably a lot of symbolic meaning throughout th...more

flag like · see review

May 29, 2014 Dora Okeyo rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a fan of Chinua's works- I'd say that this book was one of the most difficult reads.

It starts with a meeting where you are introduced to the narrator, and the president and his cabinet.
Everyone is out to achieve their own selfish needs, and it is true of the leadership in Africa, even to date.

I cannot do justice to this book by writing the perfect review- but it's well written.

flag like · see review

Jul 28, 2008 Nana rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ok, i'll rarely admit to this: i couldn't finish this book. perhaps one day i'll pick up where i left off, but for now, back on the shelf it goes. i adore chinua achebe. i wanted to adore this book with the same fervor as "things fall apart," but, even when i do complete it, i don't think that will happen. i can't claim a scholarly knowledge of his work, so i can't say this is his best or worst; he took an interesting angle writing this one--a more complicated angle, and a strange writing style...more

flag like · see review

Sep 28, 2014 Kelly Barry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3 and 1/2 stars. The story felt unfocused to me, but I genuinely loved the characters and the writing in this was just beautiful. I've heard that this is not Chinua Achebe's best (in fact the internet seems to confirm it isn't). If so, I need to read more from this guy because this was just wonderful.

flag like · see review

Jul 30, 2013 Lesliemae rated it 3 of 5 stars

Political positions, epistemologies and ontologies in a newly instituted military state. We follow the stories mainly of two writers (a journalist - and his English grad girlfriend - and a poet) who were friends in a prestigious colonial school and their rise to governmental malaise as media-writers with their militia-man classmate. As "His Excellency's" wishes are disseminated through his state sanctioned media, paranoia, and downfall.

It's interesting how story is taken up in this book, and nee...more

flag like · see review

May 01, 2013 africawrites - The RAS' annual festival of African Literature rated it 5 of 5 stars

Set in the fictional West African country of Kangan soon after a military coup, Anthills of the Savannah is Achebe's great literary satire of his own Nigeria. The novel centres around the lives of 3 friends - Chris,Beatrice and Ikem - who are all, in one form or another, dissident voices under the new military regime. Eventually the new Sandhurst-trained ruler Sam toppled, and Chris (the government's commissioner for information)is also killed. Whilst not as famous as Achebe's first novel 'Thing...more

flag like · see review

Feb 04, 2014 Christine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story of some cabinet leaders to the president-for-life of the fictional west African state of Kangan written by the Nigerian author of *Things Fall Apart*. Gives a personal side to the struggles of leadership, especially in Africa.

flag like · see review

Mar 10, 2013 Sareene rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-for-school

A great book looking at the "postcolonial" condition. Achebe uses a fictional country, but, really, it could be any nation who finds itself free for the first time in a century or two and is trying to figure out how to rule itself. Human nature is bound to get in the way: greed, the thirst for power, and the obligation to rebel against tyranny. At times it seems that the Western reader is pushed out through the use of pidgin, but I do think that this book, more than the story of Africa, is a sto...more

flag like · see review

Nov 24, 2009 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

The gallows humor in this novel verges on hilarity at times, but you know from the beginning that life is not going to be pleasant from now on for the tightly-knit group of friends who are its main characters. They are living in -- and are minor officials of -- a military dictatorship run by another of their old friends. Personal paranoia and vendettas masquerade as politics in the claustrophobic world of the elite in an impoverished African country, where all the bigshots know each other and wh...more

flag like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 Maya rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anthills of the Savannah is a great novel. it's the best narrative I have ever read. It's the story of three friends, Chris,Sam, and Ikem,who become the leaders of the imaginary state, kangan (Nigeria). The novel illustrates the troubles of postcolonial Africa and proposes alternatives. Significantly, Achebe gives new roles to the African woman to play in society, unlike his former novels especially Things Fall Apart. He believes that the inclusion of women in public sphere would foster the prog...more

flag like · see review

Feb 28, 2012 George rated it 2 of 5 stars

An interesting read about contemporary, post-colonial African politics. The story is set in the fictional country of Kangan, and revolves around political unsteadiness + corruption and the emotional connection between a small cluster of people, some very important in the government of the country and others that are just normal folk. Decent plot, well-written and accessible, and something that I wouldn't normally choose to read. I don't think that I'll rush to get another Achebe novel but I'm gl...more

flag like · see review

Jul 31, 2007 Rudy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

this book is an amazing study in power and corruption. i really like books that take place in india and africa, and for me the story of life in a post-colonial dictatorship was really fascinating. the characters (all old friends, one of whom has become the leader of a fictional african country) are really clever and funny, and have that mix of hope and tragedy that seems to be very particular to their setting. it can be pretty depressing in parts, but hopeful in others. the writing is
vivid and...more

flag like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

Fiction

80 users

Cultural > Africa

74 users

Literature > African Literature

19 users

Literature

14 users

Historical Fiction

9 users

Politics

8 users

Classics

8 users

Novels

7 users

Literary Fiction

6 users

Literature > 20th Century

5 users

See top shelves...

About Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe was a novelist, poet, professor at Brown University and critic. He is best known for his first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.

Raised by Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria, Achebe excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. He became fascinated with world religion...more Chinua Achebe was a novelist, poet, professor at Brown University and critic. He is best known for his first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.

Raised by Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria, Achebe excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. He became fascinated with world religions and traditional African cultures, and began writing stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service and soon moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention for Things Fall Apart in the late 1950s; his later novels include No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). Achebe writes his novels in English and has defended the use of English, a "language of colonizers", in African literature. In 1975, his lecture An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" became the focus of controversy, for its criticism of Joseph Conrad as "a bloody racist".

When the region of Biafra broke away from Nigeria in 1967, Achebe became a devoted supporter of Biafran independence and served as ambassador for the people of the new nation. The war ravaged the populace, and as starvation and violence took its toll, he appealed to the people of Europe and the Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region in 1970, he involved himself in political parties but soon resigned due to frustration over the corruption and elitism he witnessed. He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and returned to the U.S. in 1990 after a car accident left him partially disabled.

Achebe's novels focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of values during and after the colonial era. His style relies heavily on the Igbo oral tradition, and combines straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. He has also published a number of short stories, children's books, and essay collections. He is currently the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

Achebe died at age 82 following a brief illness.(less)

More about Chinua Achebe...

Books by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1)

There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra

More…

Share This Book

+ Share on your website

Trivia About Anthills of the S...

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Anthills of the Savannah

“While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.” — 606 likes

“Charity . . . is the opium of the privileged.” — 88 likes

More quotes…

title link	preview: Anthills of the Savannah
avg rating	preview: Anthills of the Savannah Goodreads rating: 3.79 (1737 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80213.Anthills_of_the_Savannah?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348603127l/80213.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80213.Anthills_of_the_Savannah?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe[/url]

See a Problem?

Preview — Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe

Anthills of the Savannah

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

About Chinua Achebe

Books by Chinua Achebe

Share This Book

Share on your website

Trivia About Anthills of the S...

Quotes from Anthills of the Savannah