Paradise afire / Adrien Fontanellaz & Tom Cooper.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fontanellaz, Adrien, author.

Cooper, Tom, 1970- author.

Series:

Asia@War ; v. 6.

Asia@war series ; no. 6

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Politics and government.

History, Military.

Sri Lanka--History, Military--20th century.

Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka--History--1948-.

History.

Sri Lanka--History--Rebellion, 1971.

Sri Lanka--History--Civil War, 1983-2009.

Sri Lanka--Politics and government--20th century.

Physical Description:

volumes : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 30 cm.

Place of Publication:

Solihull, West Midlands : Helion & Company Limited, 2018-

Summary:

"When released into independence from Great Britain in 1948, the stunningly beautiful island of Ceylon, renamed Sri Lanka in 1972, was expected to become a sort of 'South Asian Singapore.' However, stable political order and bright economic prospects proved insufficient to maintain peace. A host of unsolved ethnic conflicts and social inequalities conspired to erupt into an armed conflict in 1971. When this broke out the entire Sri Lankan society was shocked to its core by a large-scale insurgency instigated by a Sinhalese Maoist group, JVP. Worse still, this was followed by the gradual buildup of several other Tamil groups in the north of the island. Following riots known as 'Black July' in 1983, Sri Lanka was ripped apart by a murderous war against Tamil insurgents, which caught the armed forces wrong-footed because of the government's reluctance to buildup its military to necessary levels. This came to a temporary stop in 1987 with the implementation of a peace arrangement virtually enforced by the government of India and a deployment of a large peacekeeping force of the Indian military. By that time, the notorious LTTE emerged as the most powerful Tamil insurgent movement and the principal opponent of the Sri Lankan armed forces. Eventually, the Indian military intervention proved to be only a temporary solution. The LTTE turned against the Indian military but suffered heavily in return. However, this provided some breathing space for the Sri Lankan military, which then launched a vicious and protracted counterinsurgency campaign against the JVP. The fighting thus went on. Relying on extensive studies of the Sri Lankan War with the help of firsthand sources, official documentation and publications from all of involved parties, this volume provides an in-depth and particularly detailed account of military operations during the first 16 years of this war"--Publisher's description.

"Upon achieving independence from Great Britain in 1948, the stunningly beautiful island of Ceylon, re-named Sri Lanka in 1972, was expected to become a sort of 'South Asian Singapore'. However, stable political order and bright economic prospects proved insufficient to maintain peace. A host of unsolved ethnic conflicts and social inequalities conspired to erupt into an armed conflict in 1971. By 1987, the crisis heated up to the point where the government in New Delhi began exercising fierce pressure upon the Sri Lankan government and the Sri Lankan Tamil insurgents to arrive at a peace deal. In order to help maintain peace, the Indian Peace Keeping Force was deployed on the island. However, with a few weeks, the troops of the Indian Army found themselves involved in a bloody and protracted confrontation with the most powerful of Tamil insurgent movements - the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Elam (LTTE). The peace-keeping operation was thus quickly converted into a military intervention and a bloody quagmire. To make matters even more complex, southern Sir Lanka meanwhile became engulfed in an unprecedented wave of public violence, triggered by the second insurrection of Sinhalese ultra-leftist movement, the JVP. Calling upon extensive studies of the Sri Lankan War, with the help of first hand sources, official documentation and publications from all of the involved parties, this volume provides an in-depth and particularly detailed account of military operations between 1987 and 1990. It is illustrated by over 120 photographs, maps and 12 colour profiles." -- Back cover.

Contents:

Volume 1. The Sri Lankan War, 1971-1987

Notes:

Cover title.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9781912390342

1912390345

OCLC:

1033678519

Publisher Number:

99977378408