The volume by Godfrey Gunatilleke is a collection of his writings, many of them dating back to 40 years or so. They deal with the history of development planning in this country, village level planning, patterns of urbanization and the rural-urban balance, and education and employment issues. While some of the issues raised by the author, especially in relation to education and employment, have been overtaken by events, most of the other issues he refers to are relevant to current policy concerns. Economic and social researchers of today have much to learn from these collected writings as they focus on the broader issues of economic and social development and consider the future patterns of economic and social development. There are growing inequalities, both economic and social, in Sri Lanka, which should cause concern among all sections of society. This volume offers many insights as to how some of these problems were dealt with in the past and how they might be dealt with in the future. Godfrey Gunatilleke has been a strong voice for pluralistic patterns of development and for attaching importance to the moral dimensions of social and economic improvement.