The first English book published by Dr. Azeez in 1964 containing 174 pages.
The ten well known personalities brought to light have all helped in nation building, and have been an inspiration to many. Mr. Susil Sirivardana says,
“The theme of the book is the metamorphosing interface of Eastern and Western culture in the context of a decolonizing South Asia. He distinguishes between the old epoch or the ‘Age of Dazzlement’ and the new, ‘the Age of Discernment’. He often refers to the corrosive Macaulean educational order and its more liberative counter-order. A recurring word in this book is ‘awakening and reawakening’. That is what this phase of South Asian history was about. The book has fourteen short essays. All except for three are about inspirational figures of direct relevance to Sri Lanka, and three general essays. The general essays are on the Buddha Jayanthi celebrations, Vaidyeshwara Vidyalaya, an institution dedicated to liberating young scholars and on Pan Islam, which was a highly debated issue of the times”.
The book was dedicated to the memory of Dr. W.A. De Silva, Minister of Health 1936-42.
