Uditha Devapriya, via Thilina Walpola in The Island, 10 August 2025 …………….. Review of “Thomia: The Entangled Histories of Lanka and Her Greatest Public School” by Richard Simon. In 2 volumes. Lazari Press. 869 pages.
Richard Simon’s Thomia is a massive undertaking, though to describe it as such is to indulge in cliches hardly deserving of such books. Where does one begin with a publication like this? It is, as the author notes at the beginning, not just a history of “Lanka’s greatest school”, but a fairly comprehensive and I would say eclectic history of Sri Lanka before and after British rule. The author is at his best when he draws attention to the parallel histories of school and country. Needless to say, he is at his best throughout.
