An inside account of the Tamil crisis in Sri Lanka, written primarily in the immediate aftermath of the October 1987 Indian offensive.

Part I gives the historical background of the crisis, concentrating specifically on the 1980s. It deals with the anatomy of the Tamil militant movements and ends with an inside account of how the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of July 1987 fell apart.

The second part provides an account of the Indian military operation of October 1987, discusses the conduct of the Indian army as seen from inside, and ends with a series of analytical chapters presenting the ongoing crisis in a Sri Lankan as well as a wider sub-continental setting.