Gooneratne has indeed undertaken a courageous enterprise in the compilation of a history of the legal profession of Ceylon from the beginning of the 19th century, as hes fascination of a subject evident in his prolific writings to Readers, especially those who have similar interests will be happy with the successful in the form of an eminently readable book. One of special interest to those of us with a prurient dirty linen, as he beautifully described in Mr. Kanag-Iswarans Foreword, as stories galore of life at the Bar, as intimate as the rustle of silk bedsheets. Gooneratne in book how was it possible for the (Ceylon) Judiciary and the Bar, which were the pride of the British colonies and thereafter the Commonwealth, descend to the depths they have today? as He places the blame for this deterioration of the profession on the falling standards of both the methods of instruction and scholarship at the Law College. Students hardly read a text book on jurisprudence or case law but depending instead on the notes provided to them by a peon. In particular, little attention is paid by today’s law students, educated as they are in the vernacular, to the rich history of a noble profession as it was