A remarkable novel about the tensions between Africans and colonials in British colonial West Africa. Read from today's perspective the portrayal of the Africans may seem caricatured and racist, but reading form a period perspective it is actually remarkable nuanced and sympathetic, especially in its recognition that the situation was complex, with various tribal groups and religious constituencies vying for power on the one hand, and a far from unified position among the British, on the other. The plot centers on British-educated Aladai who returns to Nigeria with western values, ans expecting to be treated as the cultured man that he is, as he was in England. Almost immediately it becomes clear that he is not accepted by the whites, and doesn't really fit in with his tribal kinsmen either. Political and romantic tensions develop, and there is a tragic ending after a tribal uprising. Cary's prose is remarkably vivid; descriptions, even of faces can occupy a paragraph, and everything is highly colored. Given this fact, the climactic war and the tragic deaths of many of the main characters fall disappointingly flat, with even teh survivors not noticeably affected. Odd. ( )