The Rough Guide to Sri Lanka

There are only a few good books on Sri Lanka, the beautiful island, that are readily available in English - this is mostly due to the wretched and ongoing civil war there - which makes it all the more important for the first-time visitor to get a good guidebook before you go. Fortunately, this Rough Guide fills the bill. You won't find many pictures here (if you want good photos, check out the Insight Guide), but the Rough Guide is a reliable cultural guidebook that you can take with you to understand the history, archaeology, and art-historical details of the many sights in the Cultural Triangle (Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Anuradhapura, Mihintale, Kandy, etc.) that will be the highlights on your itinerary. Take it with you on your trip, and it is likely that you will know more about what you are seeing than even your local guides. And by all means do go there, it is an experience that is still safe as long as you stay out of the conflict zones!

i have glanced through the book as i am going to sri lanka and it seems okay