What to Read on the Nigerian Civil War

While oral history is a valuable source of information, often, such histories are very subjective and tend to deviate from historical truth. In the case of Biafra, historical deviation has become quite problematic, especially with the misappropriation of the Biafran experience by ethno-nationalist groups, who seek to use the war to legitimize their causes. Despite the extensive literature on the war, it seems that the most popular narratives are those that are more subjective and biased; those that err on the side of revisionism; and not those that may bring clarity and foster a better understanding of the war.

With the foregoing issues in mind, these texts will serve as an accessible and critical introduction to the war. Moreover, these texts are important for their relative objectivity, their focus on areas of the war that have been less explored, and for the new perspectives that they espouse. The majority of the texts are relatively easy to find online, being either open access articles or books easily available for purchase. Finding some of the older texts may prove challenging, regardless, the older texts have been included because of the value of their contents.