Sri Lanka: The New Country

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The thirty-year-long civil war in Sri Lanka which ended in 2009 shook the island-nation. Now there is peace, rapid development - and a new government. But questions remain. What do Tamils and Sinhalese feel about their new country? What are their dreams for the future?

Sri Lanka: The New Country is insightful and unusual reportage from the dispassionate eye of a foreign correspondent who covered the bloody conflict for two decades. It is anecdotal narrative at its best: about ordinary Sri Lankans, former Tamil Tigers, meeting LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran, princes, 'secular clergymen', army generals, Tamil Buddhists, Sinhalese Tamils, politicians and sailors wary of ghosts.

As the writer traverses Sri Lanka's formerly embattled north and east, internationally stereotypes about the nation are challenged. The book is a tribute to a wonderful people, as they pick up the pieces of their fragmented national identity and get on with building a new country.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. ix)
• 1 The Past, The 'fragile Peace' and the Tiger in his Lair (p. 1)
• 2 Vavuniya: Of All Places (p. 30)
• 3 Dosas in KILlinochchi: A General Tells his Story (p. 53)
• 4 Samba Dancers, A Gunrunner and a Fallen Lion (p. 81)
• 5 Jaffna: On Board an An-32 for the Wounded and the Dead (p. 102)
• 6 Jaffna Tamil Buddhists? A Unique Discovery (p. 112)
• 7 Jaffna: A Former Tiger is a TV Producer (p. 128)
• 8 The Chief Minister Designate, A Judge and a Gentleman (p. 138)
• 9 In Jeans at Temple Trees: The Return to Sri Lanka (p. 152)
• 10 A House for Tamils (p. 166)
• 11 The Prince of Jaffna and Royal Kandyan Graves in India (p. 196)
• 12 Mullaithivu: War Tourism & The Final Theatre of War (p. 209)
• 13 Trincomalee: LTTE Shells, Sinhalese 'Tamils' and All Alone on Sober Island (p. 223)
• 14 Passikudah, Batticaloa's Singing Fish and the Infamous White Vans (p. 240)
• 15 In Colombo: A Sri Lankan Activist and in Search of My Grandfather (p. 262)
• 16 The Gulf of Mannar, Adam's Bridge and Young Tigers and Lions (p. 277)
• A Final Word and Updates (p. 292)
• Apologies, A Reading List and Thanks (p. 301)
• Notes (p. 308)
• Index (p. 315)