"The best book yet on the war in Sri Lanka [...] It is subtle and intimate, human and generous. The author has distilled conversations about that period into a remarkable book. It is brilliant." --Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient "A deeply nuanced, non-sensational book: it is bold, yet tender [...] an invaluable, close-up account of the ways in which those who fight in these wars survive, and those who don't." --Sonali Deraniyagala, author of Wave: A Memoir of Life after the Tsunami "Clear, vivid, and elegant, without a trace of either false heroics or self-pity." --Michael Frayn "A moving testimonial to the depth and strangeness of human attachment. It recounts the other, greater destruction that war brings to society -- the destruction of optimism, tolerance and social fibre." --Rana Dasgupta, author of Capital: A Portrait of Twenty-First-Century Delhi "A fascinating, moving memoir, narrated with stark honesty and elegance of thought. Commadore Boyagoda and Sunila Galappatti illuminate, to great effect, a small, dim corner of a long, heated war. A Long Watch is storytelling at its very finest." --Samanth Subramanian, author of This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War "The simple, almost matter of fact way the protagonist narrates his story throws into vivid focus the marvellous detail he gives us of the world he suddenly finds himself fallen into. His compassionate vision of the 'enemy', his fairness, shine through the pages of this book. A landmark contribution." --Shyam Selvadurai, author of The Hungry Ghosts