Scholarly works of mainstream history have little space for the many colourful sideshows that crowd and illuminate the historical narrative. They are referred to in footnotes or ignored altogether. This volume deals with one of those footnotes in history. In 1672, the French sent an expedition to Ceylon under Admiral de Lahaye and it reached Trincomalee. From there, they sent emissaries to the Kandyan King, and one of those emissaries was the French lieutenant De La Nerolle. K.M. de Silva has one paragraph on this expedition in his History of Ceylon. Lorna Devarajah in her volume on the Kandyan Kingdom, has a few references and none of them mention De La Nerolle. He is not even a footnote in the history of Sri Lanka, according to these standard works. Yasmin Rajapakse has brought to life this relatively unknown figure in history, with a fascinating story of his origins and his life and career. This volume is more social, than political history.