Daddy Pol Pot

Taking care of himself comes easy to Prabhakaran: from cooking chicken curry, squelching any dissent, to supervising fly swats in Base One Four, his underground lair in Mullaitivu. If there’s one thing the book establishes beyond doubt, it’s Prabhakaran’s congenital inability to give up the idea of an Eelam. There is not a single situation he doesn’t leverage to his advantage. This, of course, reflects more poorly on his interlocutors. M.R. traces Prabhakaran’s growth from thambi (younger brother) to desia thalaivar (leader of the nation) in 30 racy chapters. If there’s one fault with the book, it’s that it ends all too abruptly.