Without Dustjacket. Condition Good. This Study Of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, The Pivotal Figure In The Emergence Of Modern Politics In Sri Lanka, Makes A Major Contribution To An Important Yet Neglected Period In The Country`S Political History. Dr. James Manor Explores The Personal And Political Dimensions Of Bandaranaike`S Life, Concentrating On The Economic, Social, Political And Cultural Forces Which Had A Substantial Bearing Upon His Story. Bandaranaike Is Assessed As A Member Of That Generation Of Asian And African Leaders Who Presided Over The Transition From Imperial Rule To Assertive Self-Government And Helped To Develop New Modes Of Politics. Bandaranaike Was, As Manor Convincingly Demonstrates, A Tangle Of Incongruities. He Was Both An Utopian Idealist And An Unbridled Seeker After Short-Term Political Advantages. A Scion Of The Leading Family In Ceylon`S Old Social Order, Bandaranaike Was Nonetheless An Enthusiast For Significant Social Change And His Overweeing Snobbery Caused Him To Hold The Island`S Elite In Such Contempt That He Became A Genuine Egalitarian. He Delighted In English Lyricism, Yet He Also Championed The Revival Of The Indigenous Language, Culture And Religion Of The Sinhalese. Bandaranaike`S Story, As Presented Here, Illuminates The Development Of Democratic Politics In Sri Lanka A Well A The Origins Of Current Tensions Between Sinhalese And Tamils, Which Threaten To Destroy Democracy And The Island`S Social Cohesion.