General C. S. Weerasooriya’s memoirs, Duty and Devotion: The Unfiltered Story of a General and Ambassador, is written with a cross-generational Sri Lankan audience in mind. In it, the General weaves the story of his own life into the story of Sri Lanka, from independence up to the end of the Eelam war. The book is being published by Vijitha Yapa and will be released on July 7, 2024.
In its five sections, the book deals with the optimism and innocence of newly independent Ceylon, and how despite her promising future and great potential, she gradually slid into the muck of unrest and violence at the hands of irresponsible and shortsighted leadership. In documenting this personal account, the General speaks, among many other things, to the pressures and difficulties of life on the frontlines, and the toll these took on the personal lives of military personnel.
As former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga states in the Foreword to this book, the General “displayed extreme honesty during his military service – a rare quality in his profession in Sri Lanka.” She also states that the book gives the reader “a perspective rarely seen in mainstream media.” Likewise, MP Eran Wickramaratne states: “This is a must-read for political and civil society leaders, to understand the complexity that military leaders face in deciding what is right and wrong in conflict situations.” Similarly, former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy, calls the General “a Renaissance Man – someone who has shone in many fields.”
Duty and Devotion: The Unfiltered Story of a General and Ambassador is the first book written by Gen C.S. Weerasooriya. It is an easy-to-read account of his experience in service to Sri Lanka from 1963 to 2007, in the capacity of an officer, and later, Ambassador.
