This is the classic collection of Chinua Achebe's short fiction, written over twenty years and drawn from literary journals and magazines. The earliest, 'Marriage is a Private Affair' (1952), dates back to his student days at Ibadan, Nigeria, while the latest, 'Sugar Baby' (1972), uses a man's simple obsession with sugar as an allegory of the far greater evil of human behaviour during the time of war. 'Girls at War', the title story, is about the tragic effects of war on the civilian population, in particular on one girl, who sets out with high ideals, which vanish as the war drags on and the need for food replaces the need for ideals. This collection provides an interesting cross-section of Achebe's work and the development of his key themes and distinctive style against the significant historical and political backdrop of Africa in the decades between 1952 and 1972.