author
1880–1941
Best known for The Jungle Tide, this British writer and archaeologist lived an unusually adventurous life, from tea plantations in Ceylon to archaeological work at Sigiriya and years as a prisoner of war in Turkey. His books mix first-hand experience with a deep interest in Sri Lanka’s history and landscape.
Born in Lambeth, England, in 1880, John Still was educated at Winchester College before moving to British Ceylon in 1897. He worked as a tea planter and later became involved with the island’s Department of Archaeology, where he is associated with important work at Sigiriya and the discovery of the Lotus Bath at Polonnaruwa.
Still also served in the First World War as a second lieutenant in the East Yorkshire Regiment. He was captured during the Gallipoli campaign in August 1915 and spent more than three years as a prisoner of war, an experience he later wrote about in A Prisoner in Turkey. He also published Poems in Captivity and several historical works on Sri Lanka.
His best-known book is The Jungle Tide, published in 1930, which helped make his name as a vivid writer as well as a scholar. Later in life he moved to Africa and died in Port Alfred, South Africa, on September 9, 1941.