Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir

Front Cover
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Mar 9, 2010 - Biography & Autobiography - 192 pages
1 Review
Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified

Born in 1938 in rural Kenya, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o came of age in the shadow of World War II, amidst the terrible bloodshed in the war between the Mau Mau and the British. The son of a man whose four wives bore him more than a score of children, young Ngũgĩ displayed what was then considered a bizarre thirst for learning, yet it was unimaginable that he would grow up to become a world-renowned novelist, playwright, and critic.
 
In Dreams in a Time of War, Ngũgĩ deftly etches a bygone era, bearing witness to the social and political vicissitudes of life under colonialism and war. Speaking to the human right to dream even in the worst of times, this rich memoir of an African childhood abounds in delicate and powerful subtleties and complexities that are movingly told.

 

What people are saying - Write a review

Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - chrissie3 - LibraryThing

Enjoyable and informative, definitely worth reading if you are curious to know more about the Mau Mau Rebellion 1952-1960 which lead to Kenyan Independence from Britain in 1963. Laid before you are ... Read full review

DREAMS IN A TIME OF WAR: A Childhood Memoir

User Review  - Kirkus

It takes a village to raise a writer. Against improbable odds, a Kenyan village raised a superb one in wa Thiong'o (English and Comparative Literature/Univ. of California, Irvine; Something Torn and ... Read full review

Selected pages

Other editions - View all

Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Limited preview - 2011
Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir
Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo
No preview available - 2010
Dreams in A Time of War
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
No preview available - 2010
View all »

Common terms and phrases

able African became become boys British brought called carried changed church College colonial coming continued crowd daughter dreams English European eventually exams eyes father fear felt fields followed forced friends girls give half hand happened hear heard Indian inside join Kabae Kahahu Kamandūra Kenneth Kenya Kenyatta land later learned leave Limuru lived look lost Manguo Mbiyū mind mother move Nairobi never Ngandi Ngugi wa Thiong'o night once passed person playing road seemed seen side sister sometimes stand started stop story talk teachers tell thing told took train trees turned voice walk Wallace wanted wife women young younger brother

About the author (2010)

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. His books include Wizard of the Crow, Petals of Blood, Devil on the Cross, and Decolonising the Mind.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Dreams in a Time of War
TitleDreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir
AuthorNgugi wa Thiong'o
PublisherKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010
ISBN0307378950, 9780307378958
Length192 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs
History / Africa / East
Political Science / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan