An excellent work strongly commended to all those interested in the magnificent relics and
voluminous records of Sri Lanka's fascinating past - whether professional or amateur
archeologists, present or future visitors, or those, like myself, who still recollect even after 50
years the thrill of climbing the rock fortress of Sigiriya or of seeing the wonderful carvings
and temples of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. What is more, it is a fascinating human
record, for Bell was a great if wayward character. Born in 1851, a member of the Ceylon
Civil Service from 1873 and Archaeological Commissioner from 1890 to 1912, he died in
1937, never having returned to Europe and this is the story of his life and work.
What is so fitting is that Bell can be said to have found the ideal collaborators in his
granddaughters who by their professional expertise and literary skill have successfully
rounded off in this book the work to which he devoted his life. The notes are full and of
particular value to scholars is their complete bibliography of Bell's writings from 1881 to his
monograph on the Maldive Islands published in 1940, 3 years after his death. Let his
granddaughters have the last word: "It is from Bell's own writings, published and
unpublished, that the fullest picture of his personality may be extracted. He jumps from the
page - self-centred, irascible, meticulous, opinionative, but with a strong appreciation of
good work, a love of beauty in nature and in art. Bell's own legacy is a lasting one. He is
remembered not only for having laid the massive foundations of organised archaeology in
Ceylon, but as a remarkable personality. Moreover, the love he had for the land, its culture
and its people led him never to uproot himself from them."
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