Spectrum History of Indian Literature in English accomplishes the task of historical continuity by linking with the past the most recent present of the writing in English by Indians. The book is a highly useful supplement to the earlier two Volumes by K.R. Srinivas Iyengar and M.K. Naik. Articles by Jasbir Jain and Sunanda Mongia are a spectrum presentation of the latest developments in the field of Indian Fiction in English in all its technical & thematological innovations. Satish Aikant's article provides a serious backdrop to the Volume by deliberating upon the historicity of English studies in India, their need, relevance and epistemological repercussions. R.K. Singh's article does well to deconstruct the myth that good poetry is published only by the established publishers. His account of little or less known Indian poets in English is both critical and historically illuminating. Charu Sheel Singh, Shyam Asnani and Attiya Singh discuss Indian English Poetry, Criticism, Drama and Fiction respectively. Meena Sodhi's article is a good compilation of Indian autobiographies, mostly in English, which she discusses with good critical sense and perceptive imagination. A.N. Dwivedi's article on Indian English Short Stories is a comprehensive and balanced piece which is also rich in illustrations. The two Appendices add to the value of the book by cherishing critical attention on what may be called tradition and experiment in Indian English Poetry and Fiction. Whereas Satish K. Gupta's brief piece highlights homogeneity in the sensibility of Aurobindo and Charu Sheel, it takes pains and care to chalk out differences in mode, manner and the whole presentation idiom in the latter's poetry from that of Aurobindo. Krishan Mohan Pandey's account of the Post-Modemist reaction against Gandhi in Indian Fiction in English is timely. It reaffirms faith in an Indian critic's belief in what Tagore once said : "I cannot love a God who does not give me freedom to deny Him."
R.S. SINGH (1932-1995) took his Master and Doctorate degrees in English from Banaras Hindu University in 1956 and 1965. Prof. Singh taught at Banaras Hindu University (1956-58) and Gujarat University, Ahmedabad (1963-67). He went to the University of Basra, Iraq (1979-80) and then came back and joined the Department of English, Kurukshetra University, where he spent the major part of his life and career (1967-1992). Prof. Singh was a Visiting Professor to M.D. University, Rohtak, Vikram University, Ujjain, S.P. University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Marathwada University, Aurangabad and Dr. Hari Singh Gaur University, Sagar. His numerous publications include Indian Novel in English, Matthew Arnold: Alochak. Prof. Singh has edited many useful Volumes which include : Stylistic Approaches to Literature (1993), Modern Literary Theories (1993), Postmodern Literary Theories (1994) and Cleanth Brooks : His Critical Formulations (1991). His other edited Volumes Modern Novel in English and Modern Drama in English are lying with the press. In 1983, Prof. Singh had gone to England to assess the response of English Professors, Critics and Creative Writers to Indian Literature in English.
CHARU SHEEL SINGH (b. 1955- ) took his Bachelor and Master degrees in English from Aligarh Muslim University in 1974 and 1976. In 1978, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English by the Banaras Hindu University. He went to England on a British Council Fellowship in 1982-83 where, at the University of Warwick, he was engaged on Post-doctoral work on British poetry after 1950. His numerous publications include : The Chariot of Fire (1981), Auguries of Evocation (1987), Contemporary Literary Theory (1989), Literary Theory : Possibilities and Limits (1990) and Concentric Imagination : Mandala Literary Theory (1994). Dr. Singh has also edited Confederate Gestures : Search for Method in Indian Literature Studies (1993) and Theory and Interpretation of Literature (1996). Dr. Singh is also a poet and has published five Volumes of poems in English. He has been widely reviewed in India and abroad and at the moment working as Reader in English, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith Varanasi.
