The encyclopedic novels tracing the Sri Lankan history of the century leading up to the nations independence in 1948, six decades of its aftermath, and predicting the country’s future in the next three decades, will rank among the best of literary classic produced by Sri Lankan authors.

Only a person of the caliber of Dr. Ananda Guruge, diplomat, national and international civil servant, academician, scholar and renowned author could have given life so vividly to the social and cultural milieu of Sri Lankan society in the last century and half. His own experiences from a village school to the highest levels of academia in the West, stands in good stead as he weaves every aspect of Sri Lankan history, politics, culture, geography and psyche in to phenomenal work of unique distinction that is presented as historical novels that exemplifies the best of historical fiction. Without doubt, this monumental work now bestows on him the additional honour of ‘historical novelist par excellence.

Volume one: Free at Last in Paradise is a gripping novel tracing the path of the freedom movement, in then Ceylon from the 1848 rebellion to Independence in 1948. It features a Buddhist boy; a young novice in a temple, later educated in missionary schools, becomes a government functionary, a forest monk and still later an erudite scholar, whose life parallels the freedom movement driven mainly by the Buddhist revival led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and his followers Anagarika Dharmapala and Sir Baron Jayatilake. The hero acted as interpreter to Olcott and was a strong nationalist, deeply involved in the movement most of his adult life. At age 91, he completed his biography and gave for safekeeping with instructions that it not to be published for several decades’., The revelation of the manuscript several years later, leads to Guruge’s sequel to this heroic story.

Though a work of epic proportions (740 pages), full of information masterfully dissecting every aspect of social and family life, with all its strains of caste and class, as well as the political and cultural scene of Ceylon at the time, it is a triumphant love story, that is by turns dramatic and powerful, romantic and tender that makes you want to keep reading. Displaying the author’s dexterity, the most readable prose is appropriately laced with exhilarating verse. This is an extraordinary novel that exemplifies the best of historical fiction. Somehow he has managed to make the story both educational and, dare I say it, fun!

Volume two: Serendipity of Andrew George chronicles the best of times since independence - the decade of the sixties, a time of peace and development in the country. It features the great grand son of the scholar monk (hero of the Free at Last in Paradise). He is an American Anthropology Professor on a Fulbright research scholarship who accidentally ended up discovering his roots in Ceylon, that were otherwise unknown to him. The story step by step unravels his ancestry in a masterful manner keeping the reader at edge.

In the process of his discovery he is exposed, as is the reader, to every aspect of the geography, history, and the culture of the country. As he travels around the country, Andrew George savours the marvels of historic cities and religious places of worship (Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islam), and the life style of every segment of the society (Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher). Drama, literature, poetry, cinema, and rituals of every community (including weddings, funerals, mask and devil dancing, black magic, puppetry, perahara and fire walking) are authoritatively explored in great detail. Great Lankan personalities and their work are introduced to Andrew George and thus to the reader.

Through extensive discussions of his traveling companions and people encountered during his sojourns, he is immersed not only in the life and times of the people, but, every nuance thereof and the reader is treated to an education that no university course combining politics, economics, sociology, and psychology would offer. Yet, it encapsulates a very readable and exciting adventure that can be considered as a historical novel at its best. Equally voluminous as part one (566 pages), the story is as engaging as the first. Ironically, it could also be considered as about the best and most extensive travel guide that explores the country in great depth. One can only marvel at a serious social essay that presents itself as a travelogue as well.

Volume three: Peace at Last in Paradise, final part of the trilogy is presented through the adult life of the great, great grandson of the patriarch of the family, Udaya, a professor in England, who returns to Sri Lanka to complete recording the oral history of his family that his father had begun, but soon distracted in to establishing and operating an institute on peace and harmony, in honor of the patriarch. It covers the worst of times since independence,- the recent three decades, a time of war and destruction in the country. It offers a unique perspective of the genesis, progress and end of the conflicted era. It then continues on to project a scenario, of peace and progress, that is to ensue in the three decades to come.

In volume three, Guruge returns to present us with a spellbinding sentimental story that displays the full-range of human emotions. A story born of tragic circumstances of the demise of the World Trade Center, encompasses all the strains of race and class that pervaded through the fabric of Sri Lankan society in recent times. It is transformed in to an engaging story by the author’s exceptional wit, sensitivity and sharp social observation. Author also returns to offer the reader with fascinating verse that brings to life people, events places and emotions that are vividly presented in the book.

Through out his trilogy, Guruge has demonstrated the value of recording recent history that is mostly oral or confined to individual experiences. In volume three, he has set Out, meticulously, and in great detail, the history of the period 1915 to 2009. The more recent part of history, is largely based on his own exceptional knowledge and experience, and recorded as only a true historian - an accolade he richly deserves, can document. What is fascinating is that he narrates Sri Lankan history within a compelling story of a multiethnic Sri Lankan family.

With all the political misinformation that has been the steady diet of the Sinhala & Tamil communities in the recent past, this volume stands out as an essential tool in dispelling much of the mutual ignorance that pervaded both sides, and resulted in a tragic conflict. It provides a complete and balanced account of the events and underlying reasons that brought about those events. Historical evolution of the problem, beginning in the latter part of the British era, is traced complete with all the intended and unintended twists and turns. In the process, a significant section is devoted to highlighting the often forgotten role of leaders of both communities and their positive or negative impact on the ethnic relations that eventually led to the recent conflict.

In the Trilogy, Dr. Guruge has created a unique body of literature that leads the reader to an appreciation and understanding of the Sri Lankan society, to the extent that no other author has done. This is, of course, to be expected from a person who has served for many years in every part of the Island, speaks the vernacular of every ethnic group, a scholar of Asian languages and literature and an internationally recognized personality, with a world view.

He has blended all these experiences in bringing forth a captivating trilogy.

The highly gifted writer blends a well researched, extremely detailed factual account with an artistic, almost poetic, tale of great emotional complexity. The result is an absorbing and highly readable masterpiece, which is both enjoyable and educational.