Half of a Yellow Sun reenacts history during the late 60s (67-70) as Biafra struggled to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria.

The book takes you through tumultuous years, showing the effects of war following a call for secession.

Author Chimamanda weaves together the lives of five characters: twin sisters Olanna and Kainene who are Igbo elites, Odenigbo, who is a university professor full of revolutionary zeal, a 13-year-old houseboy Ugwu and Richard an Englishman trying his hand at writing books.

The author takes you through events that took place from 1967 to 1970, when the war began, to its bitter end and the fall of Biafra; a society entangled in ethnic troubles and then civil war.