Only Man Is Vile

The Tragedy of Sri Lanka

by William McGowan

Picador, Pan Books, 1993, paperback, ISBN 0330326791

Very Good Condition, age-toned pages, minor edge and shelf wear, uncreased spine

'Sri Lanka long fascinated Western travellers with its tropical langour, spiritual traditions, and Raj Era allure.  But beneath the superficial gentleness of the landscape and people, a complex struggle over questions of ethnicity and nationalism has turned the 'Island of Dharma' into another Lebanon.
William McGowan has lived and travelled in Sri Lanka extensively over the years that span many different phases of conflict there, and the result is this compelling account of a society consumed by the implacable hatreds of race and class, the brutalities of political violence, and the quest for national identity.'