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Intended to serve the academic needs of the students of English literature, the Companion is an ultimate literary reference source, providing an up-to-date, comprehensive and authoritative biographies of novelists, poets, playwrights, essayists, journalists and critics ranging from literary giants of the past to contemporary writers like Peter Burnes (1931-2004), Anthony Powell (1905-2000), Patrick O’Brian (1914-2000), Iris Murdoch (1919-1999), Grace Nicholas (1950- ) and Douglas Adams (1952-2001). Over the last few decades English literary canon has become relatively more extensive and diverse. In recognition of the significance of the New Literatures in English, special emphasis has been given on the writers of these literatures. In addition, the Indian writers writing in English have been given a prominent place in the book, thereby making it particularly useful for the students of Indian English Literature. The Companion is unique of its kind as it gives a broad outline of the story and not merely a brief account of the plot structure of a literary work so as to enable the students to have a fairly good idea of the story. Likewise, before getting down to the writings of an author, the Companion provides an invaluable and authoritative biographical note believing that an author’s biography facilitates proper understanding of his/her contributions. On account of its clear and reliable plot summaries and descriptive entries of major works and literary journals and authentic biographical details, the Companion is a work of permanent value. It is undoubtedly an indispensable and path-breaking handy reference guide for all those interested in literatures in English produced in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Africa, the Caribbean, India and other countries. About Author: A full Professor since 1982, and recently retired, Dr Mohit K. Ray is one of the seniormost Professors in the country. He has three books and a large number of research papers published in scholarly journals in India and abroad, which reflect his wide range of scholarship including Criticism, Comparative Literature, New Literatures, Canonical Literature, Comparative Poetics and Translation Studies. Professor Ray has attended and chaired sessions as an invited participant in many international Conferences, Seminars, and Colloquia held in different parts of the globe—England, France, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Estonia, America, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, etc. Professor Ray has studied several languages including Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic, French, and German. He has edited several anthologies of critical studies, and edits The Atlantic Critical Review, an international quarterly of global circulation. He is also at present the Chief Editor of Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. Professor Ray is associated with many international bodies including Association Internationale de Littérature Comparée, Paris, and Association Internationale des Critiques Littéraires, Paris.