Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives
by Richard Grimmett
from Princeton University Press
From the snowcapped Himalayas and the Indus valley, to the Ganges delta and the Sri Lankan forests, the Indian subcontinent is home to 13% of the world's species of birds and thousands of birders and ecotourists flock to the area every year. This field guide will be indispensable to those who wish to find and identify the many species of avifauna of the Indian subcontinent and environs.
Featuring more than 150 color plates by eminent bird illustrators from Europe and India, it depicts all the known species in the region, ranging from the Himalayan Snowcock in the north to the Sri Lanka Spurfowl in the south. The plates include all relevant identifiable subspecies, as well as ages and sexes. It contains hundreds of range maps and the succinct text on the facing pages covers identification, voice, and distribution. Specially designed for use in the field, it is a compact version of the landmark A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, hailed on its publication as a "stunning book" that "advanced the cause of Indian birding by 20-30 years." With its modest price, small trim size, and sturdy, weather-resistant binding, this field guide is the one volume that every adventurous traveler to the Indian subcontinent must have.
BLOODY SHAMBLES VOLUME TWO: The Complete Account of the Air War in the Far East, from the Defence of Sumatra to the Fall of Burma, 1942
by Christopher Shores
from Grub Street
This is the story of the Allied air campaign across Australia, Sumatra, Java, the Philippines, Burma and Ceylon during World War II. It documents the Allied underestimation of Japanese ability, and ends with the Japanese at the extremities of their advance.
Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo (Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)
by R. Gombrich
from Routledge
Theravada is the branch of Buddhism is found in Sri Lanka and parts of South East Asia. The Buddha preached in north-east India in about the fifth-century BC. He claimed that human beings are responsible for their own salvation, and put foward a new ideal of the holy life, establishing a monastic Order to enable men and women to pursue that ideal. For most of its history the fortunes of Theravada, the most conservative form of Buddhism, have been identified with those of that Order. Under the great Indian emperor, Asoka, himself a Buddhist, Theravada reached Sri Lanka in about 250 BC. There it became the religion of the Sinhala state, and from there it spread, much later, to Burma and Thailand.
Richard Gombrich's book, widely recognised as the classic introduction to the field of Theravada Buddhism, shows how Theravada Buddhism has influenced and been influenced by its social surroundings. He explores the influences of the Buddha's predecessors and the social and religious contexts against whichBuddhism has developed and changed throughout history. This revised and updated new edition incorporates recent research, including recent controversies over the date of the Buddha, as well as reflecting recent social and political developments in Sri Lanka.
Lost White Tribes : The End of Privilege and the Last Colonials in Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Brazil, Haiti, Namibia, and Guadeloupe
by Riccardo Orizio
from Free Press
Over 300 hundred years ago, the first European colonists landed in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean to found permanent outposts of the great empires. This epic migration continued until after World War II, when some of these tropical colonies became independent black nations and the white colonials were forced -- or chose -- to return to the mother country. Among the descendants of the colonizing powers, however, were some who had become outcasts in the poorest strata of society and, unable to afford the long journey home, were left behind, ignored by both the former oppressed indigenous population and the modern privileged white immigrants.
At the dawn of the twenty-first century these lost white tribes still hold out, tucked away in remote valleys and hills or in the midst of burgeoning metropolises, living in poverty while tending the myths of their colonial ancestors. Forced to marry within their own group if they hope to retain their fair-skinned "purity," they are torn between the memory of past privilege and the extraordinary pressure to integrate. All are decreasing in number; some are on the verge of extinction and fighting to survive in countries that ostracize them because of the color of their skin and the traditions they represent. Though resident for generations, these people are permanently out of place, an awkward and embarrassing reminder of things past in newly redefined countries that are eager to forget both them and their historical homelands.
In the remote interior and in bustling São Paulo, the Confederados of Brazil linger on, the descendants of Confederate families that fled the American South to rebuild their society here rather than face victorious Yankees. Wrenchingly poor then and now, these would-be genteel planters cling to their romanticized memory of a proud antebellum past. In Sri Lanka, once Ceylon, the children of Dutch Burghers haunt their crumbling mansions, putting on airs and keeping up appearances. In the steaming jungle of Guadeloupe, the inbred and deformed Matignons Blancs scrape out an existence while claiming the blood of French kings in their veins. On the beaches of Jamaica, a young man with incongruously blond dreadlocks -- the destitute descendant of a shoemaker from the Duchy of Saxony who became an indentured servant to earn passage from Germany to the new world -- still gazes out at the Caribbean over a century and half later. The Poles of Haiti are descended from troops lured over by Napoleon to quell slave rebellions. His promise of independence for their homeland went unfulfilled; they persist in hidden valleys in the island's interior. In the desert expanses of Southwest Africa, the famously devout Basters, the green-eyed, mixed-race Afrikaners, still doggedly pursue vast territorial claims as the continent's new power brokers sweep them aside. These are the lost white tribes.
More than an entrée into a world we are unfamiliar with, this amazing chronicle opens up a world that we did not even know existed. In his masterful report, Riccardo Orizio has written the final chapter in the history of the postcolonial world, and in him these forgotten peoples have found their unique historian.
Bloody Shambles : Volume One : The Drift to War to the Fall of Singapore
by Christopher Shores
from Grub Street
This is the story of the Allied air campaign across Singapore, Malaya, Burma, Ceylon and the Philippines during World War II. It documents the Allied underestimation of Japanese ability, which led to the destruction of 50% of the British bomber force in two days.
Running in the Family (Picador Books)
by Michael Ondaatje
from MacMillan
The Work of Kings
by H. L. Seneviratne
from University Of Chicago Press
Beginning with Anagarika Dharmapala's "rationalization" of Buddhism in the early twentieth century, which called for monks to take on a more activist role in the community, Seneviratne shows how the monks have gradually revised their role to include involvement in political and economic spheres. The altruistic, morally pure monks of Dharamapala's dreams have become, Seneviratne trenchantly argues, self-centered and arrogant, concealing self-aggrandizement behind a façade of "social service."
A compelling call for reform and a forceful analysis, The Work of Kings is essential to anthropologists, historians of religion, and those interested in colonialism, nationalism, and postcolonial politics.
The Lost Dynasty: Uncovering Sri Lanka's Secret Past
by Nishantha Gunawardena
from Traces of Eden Foundation
It is the story of a king, shrouded in mystery, introduced as fiction, betrayed by history, unveiled by a tsunami that reintroduces himself, his kingdom, and his dynasty ... as true history. For centuries Sri Lankans and many historians have believed that the Sri Lankan civilization begins with the arrival of Vijaya, the supposed first king and progenitor of the Sinhalese, from northeastern India in the sixth century BCE. "If so," the author asks, "how is it that Egyptian Pharaohs, Prophet Moses, King Solomon, King Hiram, all indicate to have had trading links with the island more than a millennium before the arrival of Vijaya?" In a 13-year quest, avoiding landmines and Tamil Tigers the author finds and subjugate myths, legends, lore, and even ancient palm leaf chronicles of Sri Lankas past to rigorous and exhausting tests with the latest research by Oxford University and National Geographic Society in archeology, genetics, paleography, anthropology, literary analysis, and statistics. In THE LOST DYNASTY, all recovered clues are meticulously assembled to reconstruct a past even most Sri Lankans do not know existed - a past more glorious than they ever dreamed of. Hidden in neglected rock inscriptions are the story a prosperous kingdom with international colonies and trade links ruled by a powerful dynasty that was vanquished and lost to history by an unwise war and an unforeseeable tsunami more than 3000 years ago. The Book contains 178 stunning and rare images spanning over 200 years. Table of Content Chapter 1: War and Peace Chapter 2: The Tamil Homeland Chapter 3: An Ancient Terror Chapter 4: Ancestor or Invader? Chapter 5: Chronicles Chapter 6: Palladium of Kingship Chapter 7: The Missing Chapter Chapter 8: Pearl Harbor Chapter 9: The Forgotten Kingdom Acknowledgements Bibliography Index
Sri Lankan Wildlife (Bradt Guides)
by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne
from Bradt Travel Guides
Cultural Atlas of India: India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka (Cultural Atlas of)
by Gordon Johnson
from Facts on File
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