Emmanuel Iduma moves back to Nigeria after years of living in New York. He went there, not only to make it his home but to attempt to find out what happened to the uncle that went missing in the Nigerian Civil War. His father's favorite brother. The author and his family are of the Igbo ethnic group in Southern Nigeria and when many Igbo were killed in Northern Nigeria by the Hausa many survivors fled South and its government declared its independence as the Republic of Biafra. The Federal government then declared war to keep the country united. As he tries to find some answers about his uncle's service he goes from city to city, town to town, and site to site. He prowled libraries taking surreptitious photos of illicit books. The fear was evident as well, as young men belong to an underground freedom movement, IPOD, and when protests broke out against a brutal, special unit the Governor of Lagos called in the Nigerian Army who began shooting the protestors with live rounds. Many of the people that Iduma spoke to remarked that his Igbo wasn't very good and were wary of him because of it. He didn't find all the answers he needed about his uncle for even his family wishes to move on and most of his family are younger than his uncle's generation
and have little knowledge of him. ( )

Iduma's book is less a memoir and more of a nonfiction exploration of his research into his uncle's fate after disappearing during the Nigerian civil war of the 1960s, and on the war itself and its aftermath. The standout parts of the book to me were the brief and too rare sections where he opens up about his family and personal life, but unfortunately this wasn't the bulk of the book. Despite the book's synopsis, Iduma finds out very little about his uncle, but continues to research the war that deeply impacted his family, but predated his birth. There is some explanation of politics and the major "players" involved in the war, and he also attempts many interviews (both with friends and family about his uncle and the war, as well as strangers knowledgeable about the war itself), with varying success. Iduma writes well but his style is extremely formal and sometimes stiff, with some terms greatly overused (such as 'estimating' various situations), and this kept me at a further remove from him and his story. Overall, this is a mixed bag, but probably of more interest to those interested in recent Nigerian history. ( )

This is a beautifully written book about one man's search for identity, and in doing so teaches its readers about the Nigeria Civil War in the late 1960s and its aftermath in contemporary times. The only thing I remember about Biafra as a child is seeing pictures of starving Biafran children in the news.

This book gave me an opportunity to learn about Biafra in a very intimate way as the author returned to Nigeria, his country of birth, in search of more information about his father's brother Emmanuel who died in the Nigerian Civil War, but whose body was never found. I thought this a compelling read since I had formerly worked with individuals of the Igbo tribe and was delighted to have this opportunity to learn more about this and other tribes of Nigeria.

I was startled and saddened to learn that the remanants of Biafra are still in a continuous struggle with the government of Nigeria despite the passage of decades of time.

The very ending of the book was a complete surprise, but I'd like for that information to surprise you, the reader, as well when you get to it. ( )

This is a beautiful story of grief, family, and war. I was hooked all the way to the final page.

Emmanuel Iduma is a talented writer who has an amazing way of threading the story of his travels to learn more about his uncle, and family, and the history of his homeland of Nigeria. There are many heartbreaking stories as the author reconnects with many friends and family, including that of coming to terms with not being able to have the entire story of what happened in the past. ( )