A travelogue and much more

'The World I Saw' - 'A Lifetime of Travel', Rienzie Weeraratne's latest book is now on sale. The author, a director of Lever Bros., Ceylon in the 1950's and '60's travelled extensively for his work with Unilever and in later years on special assignments with United Nations organizations.

Mr. Weeraratne's first book, a biography of Sir Thomas de Sampayo, the first Sri Lankan to act as Chief Justice in the early 1920's, was published in 2004.

'The World I Saw' covers his visits to over 60 countries in five continents and is written not purely as a travelogue but also with comments on the different cultures and the factors that affected and influenced them. From the Masai in the Rift Valley in Kenya, the civilizations that existed in the West Coast countries of Africa such as Ghana and Nigeria and the impact of slavery, the Hittites in Central Anatolia and their relationship to the Egyptians and Rameses, the peoples of India and the impact of the British Raj, he covers a vast and exciting canvas.

Extensively illustrated, this hard cover edition is published by Typeforce in Melbourne and produced by Sarvodaya Vishva Lekha. The book is available at 29, De Fonseka Place, Colombo 5 and at Barefoot Bookshop.