Man of the People: What is the setting?

While Achebe’s other books are set in his home country of Nigeria, this book is set in an unnamed African country. Because the narrator is a native of this country, he describes in a matter-of-fact way the customs such as polygamous marriage, warding off evil spirits, and the distinctions of rank and wealth. In this country, there is a great divide between the few who are powerful and wealthy, and the masses who live without adequate sanitation and sometimes without adequate food.

The time setting of the novel is the 1960s, about the time when the book itself was written. The story is set in the historical period just a few years after this fictional country wins its independence from white colonial rule. Shortly after the book was written, Achebe’s home country of Nigeria experienced a military takeover like the one described in the book.