This book is a comprehensive history of the Sri Lankan Tamils, their territories, their politics, religion, language, socio-economics, art, literature and culture.Until the publication of this book, based on historical evidence, the Tamils' struggle for freedom has not been understood in its true light by those engaged in research, the majority of academics, politicians and ordinary people.The existing primary sources were not sufficient to write such an historical work. The author, in order to gather incontrovertible evidence, visited various archives, libraries, state institutions and university research centres located in the countries that are closely related to the history of Sri Lankan Tamils. These include India, Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain and the United States of America. This invaluable material has been compiled for the first time in this book.Here are some excerpts: " ... generally accept that the ancient people of Sri Lanka belonged to the Dravidian Language family and followed the Dravidian (Megalithic) culture of 'Urn Burials'. The findings of these scholars also show that there was a strong similarity between the ancient people of Sri Lanka and those of India, particularly from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Kannada and the Andhra regions in South India where Dravidian languages are spoken."" ... that Saivaism was firmly established in Sri Lanka long before the arrival of Buddhism to the island. The kings of the Anuradapura Kingdom had been Saivaites before the advent of Buddhism.""... Archaeological evidence shows that the ancient Dravidian people of ancient Sri Lanka, influenced by the arrival of Buddhism and the North Indian languages associated with it, gradually embraced Buddhism, its cultural traditions and the languages related to it."

This Work "Primary Sources for History of the Sri Lankan Tamils : A World-wide Search", the First of its kind, is a very significant one. In this work I see the Historian and the Professional Librarian within the Author Dr. M. Gunasingam a student of Prof. K. Indrapala blend with each other in a very charming way. The author has documented the resources in the various major libraries of the world and those resource centres which possess valuable data relating to the history and culture of the Sri Lankan Tamils. The material is presented in an introductory manner as a historian would do. One cannot fail to notice the specific references the author chooses to give about each of the libraries and centres. In that sense it also becomes a guide.One cannot fail to observe the sense of socio political dedication of the author to the basic theme of the book. This work reveals the depth of the author's conviction and the breadth of the areas of search. I am sure this work will receive the attention of scholars and students researching into not only the Sri Lankan Tamils but also into Sri Lanka as a whole.

On the ethnic relations and politics in post 1978 Sri Lanka.

The compelling true story of a seventeen year old girl who joins the Tamil Tigers.