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This Divided Island: Life, Death, and the Sri Lankan War

About the Book

This Divided Island: Life, Death, and the Sri Lankan War

Samanth Subramanian has written about politics, culture and history for the New York Times and the New Yorker. Now, Subramanian takes on a complex topic that touched millions of lives in THIS DIVIDED ISLAND.

In the summer of 2009, the leader of the dreaded Tamil Tiger guerrillas was killed, bringing to an end the civil war in Sri Lanka. For nearly 30 years, the war's fingers had reached everywhere, leaving few places --- and fewer people --- untouched. What happens to the texture of life in a country that endures such bitter conflict? What happens to the country's soul? Subramanian gives us an extraordinary account of the Sri Lankan war and the lives it changed. Taking us to the ghosts of summers past, he tells the story of Sri Lanka today. Through travels and conversations, he examines how people reconcile themselves to violence, how the powerful become cruel, and how victory can be put to the task of reshaping memory and burying histories.

This Divided Island: Life, Death, and the Sri Lankan War
by Samanth Subramanian

  • Publication Date: December 15, 2015
  • Genres: History, Nonfiction
  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
  • ISBN-10: 1250069742
  • ISBN-13: 9781250069740