Born on November 16, 1930, Achebe began his journey to greatness in 1936 when he attended St. Philip`s Central School to receive his primary education. From 1944 to 1947, he attended Government College Umuahia. Thereafter, precisely in 1948, Achebe entered University College, Ibadan, which was an offspring of the University of London. He was just 18 years old. While studying English, history and theology there, the young Achebe, no longer the innocent reader of Treasure Island, Tom Brown`s School Days, The Prisoner of Zenda and David Copperfield at Government College Umuahia, became critical of racial stereotypes in European literature about Africa including Joyce Cary`s Mister Johnson. Thus, he decided that it was time Africans told their own stories.