`Vasco da Gamayum Charithrathile Kanapurangalum' (Vasco da Gama and unseen events in history) is not written by a professional historian. It is a book authored by a history buff for history buffs, as it is a chronological narration of historical events following the landing of colonial powers beginning with the Portuguese.

Sathyan Edakkad, a police constable attached to the tourism police wing in Kannur, knows local history of Kannur and neighbouring areas like the back of his hand as he travels a lot to collect details and documents concerning history of forts, temples and mosques, among other things. In fact, the police authorities here shifted Mr. Sathyan Edakkad to the tourism police considering his ability to narrate the local history to tourists visiting the St. Angelo's Fort built by the Portuguese in Kannur.

The book, according to the author, is the outcome of his moving to the tourism police. ``Historical monuments were just objects of viewing till I was moved to the tourism police over three years ago,'' he says. His new assignment required knowledge about local history to answer queries from foreign and domestic tourists visiting the region, he adds. He read history books, including those sent by friendly tourists, on the landing of the colonial powers in the region, took notes in notebooks. The book is a collection of the historical information in chronological order that he collected over the years. Mr. Sathyan Edakkad is a familiar face at history seminars organised by History Departments of colleges here. He recently presented a paper at the history seminar organised by the district panchayat. The 181-page book in Malayalam is his first initiative in book writing.