Tab Article

Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5)
Genre: Political Biography / History / Leftist Politics / Sri Lankan Non‑Fiction

Book Review:
Philip Gunawardena – The Making of a Revolutionary by Charles Wesley Ervin traces the formative years of Philip Gunawardena (1901–1972) – ''the father of socialism'' in Sri Lanka and founder of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). Based on recently uncovered British police reports from the early 1930s, this study reveals his revolutionary activities in the USA and England, his shift from Communism to Trotskyism, and his return to Ceylon in 1932 to form the LSSP. Ervin argues that Philip alone was the godfather of the left movement in Ceylon. Essential reading for those interested in Sri Lankan leftist politics and Trotskyism.