General Shantha Kottegoda, retired from the sri lanka army as the 17th commander in december 2005 with a distinguished military career spanning almost 36 years during which many key appointments were held in all areas of defence, intelligence, peace keeping and conflict resolution. The military career was followed by a diplomatic mission representing sri lanka as the ambassador of sri lanka to brazil and subsequently to thailand and accredited to laos & cambodia. He also served as the secretary of defence to the ministry of defence sri lanka in 2019, soon after the tragedy that occurred on easter sunday. A topic which has been widely discussed and interpreted in the recent history of sri lanka is the deadliest armed conflict between the sri lankan armed forces and the liberation tigers of tamil eelam (ltte). Having served in nearly all parts of the island and played a very positive role in the defence of the nation in all conflicts that have plagued the country since 1971, general. Kottegoda provides an analytical discourse on the reasons which led to the conflict, challenges, personal experiences and lessons learned, with the hope that never again will the silenced guns be heard. With this rich discussion of unknown insights into a war that kept dodging "peace", interspersed with witty anecdotes and endearing memories, general kottegoda aims to contribute to the military history of sri lanka and also endeavors to remember honorable men, women and people who seem to have been forgotten between the pages of history.