Chinua Achebe Books in Order
Chinua Achebe has written 30 books, published between 1958 and 2012. The first book is Things Fall Apart (1958) and the newest is There Was a Country (2012). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 30
- Published
- 1958–2012
- Pages on record
- 4,070 in 26 of 30 books
- Reading time
- 68–102 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,070 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 26 of 30 titles with a page count on record.
Chinua Achebe (16 November 1930 - 21 March 2013), born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, was a Nigerian novelist, poet and critic and a central figure of modern African literature. Things Fall Apart (1958) is Achebe's first novel and the most widely studied, translated and read African novel; together with No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964) it completes the African Trilogy. A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987) followed among the later novels. Readers commonly call Achebe the father of modern African literature, a description Achebe rejected. The catalogue holds 30 books, closing with There Was a Country (2012).
How many Chinua Achebe books are there?
Chinua Achebe has 30 books, released between 1958 and 2012. 3 of them belong to the African Trilogy series.
Chinua Achebe Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 30 Chinua Achebe books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 119585971/4
- 2Things Fall Apart and Related Readings1959 · 222 pages · confirmed 1/419592221/4
- 319601941/4
- 419642301/4
- 5The Voter1965 · 51 pages · confirmed 1/41965511/4
- 6A Man of the People1966 · 150 pages · confirmed 1/419661501/4
- 7Chike and the River1966 · 63 pages · confirmed 1/41966631/4
- 8Girls at War and Other Stories1972 · 120 pages · confirmed 1/419721201/4
- 9Beware Soul Brother1972 · 72 pages · confirmed 1/41972721/4
- 10How the Leopard Got His Claws1973 · confirmed 1/41973–1/4
- 11Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems1973 · 92 pages · confirmed 1/41973921/4
- 12Morning Yet on Creation Day1975 · 175 pages · confirmed 1/419751751/4
- 13The Drum1977 · 31 pages · confirmed 1/41977311/4
- 14The Flute1977 · confirmed 1/41977–1/4
- 15The Trouble with Nigeria1984 · 68 pages · confirmed 1/41984681/4
- 16Anthills of the Savannah1987 · 216 pages · confirmed 1/419872161/4
- 17Hopes and Impediments1988 · 186 pages · confirmed 1/419881861/4
- 18The University and the Leadership Factor in Nigerian Politics1988 · 22 pages · confirmed 1/41988221/4
- 19Critical Fictions1992 · confirmed 1/41992–1/4
- 20Beyond Hunger In Africa1992 · 148 pages · confirmed 1/419921481/4
- 21Things Fall Apart with Connections1995 · 238 pages · confirmed 1/419952381/4
- 22Africa's Tarnished Name1997 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/41997641/4
- 23Conversations with Chinua Achebe1997 · 199 pages · confirmed 1/419971991/4
- 24Another Africa1998 · 122 pages · confirmed 1/419981221/4
- 25Home and Exile2000 · 115 pages · confirmed 1/420001151/4
- 26An Image of Africa2002 · 87 pages · confirmed 1/42002871/4
- 27Collected Poems2004 · 84 pages · confirmed 1/42004841/4
- 28Africa: A Short History2004 · confirmed 1/42004–1/4
- 29The Education of a British-Protected Child2009 · 172 pages · confirmed 1/420091721/4
- 30There Was a Country2012 · 352 pages · confirmed 1/420123521/4
Chinua Achebe books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
African Trilogy in order
3 booksStandalone books
27 books27 Chinua Achebe titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Chinua Achebe books in order?
You only need to read Chinua Achebe books in order within the African Trilogy series, which holds 3 of the 30 Chinua Achebe books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Chinua Achebe
Start with Things Fall Apart (1958), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Chinua Achebe book?
There Was a Country (2012) is the newest Chinua Achebe book released so far.
Is there a new Chinua Achebe book coming?
No next Chinua Achebe book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Chinua Achebe has won
Wikidata records 5 awards and 3 nominations for Chinua Achebe. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- International Booker Prize2007Won
- St. Louis Literary Award1999Won
- International Nonino Prize1994Won
- Lotus Prize for Literature1975Won
- Commonwealth Poetry Prize1972Won
- Neustadt International Prize for Literature2004Shortlisted
- Neustadt International Prize for Literature1994Shortlisted
- Booker Prize1987Shortlistedfor Anthills of the Savannah
Chinua Achebe at a glance
- Died
- Chinua Achebe died in 2013, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Chinua Achebe on record dates from 2012.
- Release pace
- Chinua Achebe books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 4,070 pages across the 26 of 30 books with a recorded length, a median of 135 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Chinua Achebe books, 7 of 30, were published in the 1970s.
What the Chinua Achebe books are about
26 of the 30 Chinua Achebe books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: nigerian authors is tagged on 5 of 26. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Nigerian Authors 5 of 26 books
- Biography 4 of 26 books
- Igbo (African people) 4 of 26 books
- Poetry 4 of 26 books
- Fiction (fictional works by one author) 3 of 26 books
- History 3 of 26 books
- History and criticism 3 of 26 books
- Intellectual life 3 of 26 books
- Politics and government 3 of 26 books
- Race relations 3 of 26 books
- African fiction (English) 2 of 26 books