Tab Article

Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
Genre: Political Biography, Sri Lankan History, Memoir

Book Review:
''FDB'' is far more than a conventional biography—it is a labor of love, a historical document, and a contribution to future understanding of one of Sri Lanka's most formidable political figures. Compiled by Lakshmi Dias Bandaranaike, Felix Dias Bandaranaike's widow, this volume brings together personal memories, official assessments, policy speeches, and tributes from contemporaries to create a multifaceted portrait of a man who shaped Sri Lankan governance across multiple portfolios.

The book's greatest strength is its comprehensiveness. Felix Dias Bandaranaike's career touched almost every sphere of government—Finance, Planning, Public Administration, Justice, and Foreign Affairs. By including contributions from officials who worked closely with him in each ministry, the volume allows readers to assess his impact across different domains. The picture that emerges is of a man of exceptional capabilities, boundless energy, and remarkable range.

Neville Kanakaraine's introduction provides valuable context, noting that even Felix's ''bitterest critics can hardly deny the capabilities, the indefatigable energies and the multi-faceted dimensions of personality he brought to bear on every sphere of public activity he touched.'' This balanced assessment—acknowledging controversy while insisting on recognition of achievement—characterizes the book's approach throughout.

The personal sections add essential humanity. Lakshmi's narration of Felix's personal life, complete with anecdotes of his ''Puckishness'' and his ''impish and snide observations on men and matters,'' reveals the private man behind the public figure. Tributes from schoolmates at Royal College, university and law college contemporaries, and friends from home and abroad illuminate different phases of his development—schoolboy, undergraduate, lawyer, parliamentarian.

Particularly valuable is the inclusion of major speeches on national issues and policy matters. These primary documents allow readers to encounter Felix's own words and arguments, not merely others' assessments of them. Together, they constitute ''a mine of useful information on the political, economic, social and professional developments in our country since 1960.''

Kanakaraine's hope that this volume will enable future generations ''to place F.D.B. and his role in our country's evolution in a fairer and more balanced perspective than they have hitherto enjoyed'' speaks to the book's purpose. In an era of partisan polemic, it offers documentation and testimony that can support more objective judgment when ''the dust of partisan polemics and political rivalry settles down.''

For anyone interested in Sri Lanka's political history, the Bandaranaike legacy, or simply the story of a remarkable life dedicated to public service, ''FDB'' is indispensable. It stands as a testament to what careful compilation and loving memory can achieve—a portrait that, while undoubtedly sympathetic, provides the materials for independent judgment.