Welcome back to Lit in a Nutshell — where we take iconic works of literature and distill their biggest ideas into stories you can carry with you long after the episode ends.

Today, we’re stepping into one of the most influential bodies of work in modern literature: Chinua Achebe’s African Trilogy — Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, and Arrow of God. Across these three novels, Achebe paints a powerful, layered portrait of Igbo life, colonial disruption, and the struggle for identity in a world caught between tradition and change.

From the rise and fall of Okonkwo to the modern pressures faced by his descendants, Achebe weaves together personal tragedy, cultural pride, humor, heartbreak, and resistance. His storytelling doesn’t just recount history — it restores a voice to a people whose narratives were long overshadowed.

So settle in as we journey through Achebe’s timeless trilogy — exploring how these stories illuminate the resilience of a culture and the complexities of a continent undergoing transformation. This is Chinua Achebe’s African Trilogy… in a nutshell.