Samanth Subramanian has a rare talent as a storyteller. He takes on the role of the chronicler, and weaves characters and their stories in with such ease that they fit into the narrative seamlessly. If he has one shortcoming, it is that on occasion, he seems to wander off a little, leaving the reader a little bewildered. However few Indian authors have the ability to share the horrors of what they have witnessed and Subramanian’s skill in recounting these tales of terror is commendable.

In ...

This book is a book about Sri Lankan people: people affected by the war; people who took part in the war; people who believed the Sinhala Buddhists were the only real Sri Lankans; people who just followed the Tiger leader blindly or otherwise, despite knowing that they were on the losing side; people who are leaders and refuse to acknowledge their inebriated state being drunk with power.

The division of the book into its four parts, called The Terror, The North, The Faith and Endgames, is a ...

Such A beautiful island.
Such a sad story.
I have lived Tamil Nadu for decades and never had a clue about the actual details of the conflict.
ThankYou,
Sri Samanth Subramanin, great book!

Extremely well written book! The author has spent considerable time in exploring the layers of the conflict in Srilanka and come up with this brilliant work. The book is non-judgemental. I feel, however, that the author should have interviewed Sinhalese army men also to have their views. This could have enlarged the perspective significantly.

Mostly incomplete... Contents are same in all the pages, names alone changing... Fully disappointed

The book was delivered fast and it was in perfect condition. The story is simply a narrative account of the author's travels and interactions with the Sri Lankan people, after the war was over. I expected to read about the historical background of LTTE, Indian intervention through IPKF, and other significant events which culminated in the civil war, however, none of the sort are present. The book doesn't provide a definitive account of the events in a chronological order, nonetheless, the ane...

Stories enthrall, entertain, scare, thrill, and educate.
Samanth Subramanian’s This Divided Island – Stories From The Sri Lankan War (2014) does this all!