Round the Tea Totum: When Sri Lanka was Ceylon

This is the personal story of six years spent as an assistant manager on tea plantations in the beautiful and historic island of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The European tea planter is now a figure of history and his way of life has long vanished. This book describes a planter's daily life, the events experienced and the post-colonial social scene with humour as well as candour. Historical and literary aspects are included where these are relevant to the story and the wonderful natural history of the Island is brought to attention by a keen naturalist.

David Ebbels was born in London and spent much of his childhood in Ceylon on the various estates of which his father was manager. After finishing schooling in Australia, he spent six years in Ceylon as an assistant superintendent on tea estates before returning to study in the UK. After graduating PhD, and with a young family, he spent six years in Tanzania working on cotton diseases, later returning again to the UK, where he worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food until his retirement. He is now an independent consultant on plant health and quarantine.