This book examines the cultural trauma of
the Indian Emergency through a reading of five seminal novels. It
discusses the Emergency as an event that prompted the writing of several
notable novels attempting to preserve the silenced and fading memory of
its human rights violations and suspension of democracy.

The author reads works by Salman Rushdie, Shashi Tharoor, Nayantara
Sahgal and Rohinton Mistry in conjunction with government white papers,
political speeches, memoirs, biographies and history. The book explores
the betrayal of the Nehruvian idea of India and democracy by Indira
Gandhi and analyses the political and cultural amnesia among the general
populace in the decades following the Emergency.

At a time when debates around freedom of speech and expression have
become critical to literary and political discourses, this book will be
of great interest to scholars and researchers of English literature,
cultural studies, postcolonial studies, media studies, political
studies, sociology, history and for general readers as well.