K.M. De Silva held the chair of Sri Lanka History at the University of Ceylon, later the University of Peradeniya, from 1969 to 1995. He was foundation director and executive director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo/Kandy from 1982 - 2008. Among his several books are A History of Sri Lanka, Managing Ethnic Tensions in Multi-Ethnic Societies: Sri Lanka, 1880 - 1985 and Regional Powers and Small State Security: India and Sri Lanka, 1977 - 1990. He has edited two volumes of Sri Lanka: British Documents on the End of Empire series, Conflict and Violence in South Asia: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Pursuit of Peace in Sri Lanka: Past Failures and Future Prospects. He also wrote Reaping the Whirlwind: Ethnic Politics, Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka.