New Releases by George Orwell

This Excellent Collection brings together Orwell''s longer, major books and a fine selection of shorter pieces. With great originality and wit Orwell unfolds his views on subjects ranging from a revaluation of Charles Dickens to the nature of Socialism, from a comic yet profound discussion of naughty seaside postcards to a spirited defence of English cooking. Displaying an almost unrivalled mastery of English plain prose, Orwell''s Books created a unique literary manner from the process of thinking aloud and continue to challenge, move and entertain. This Books created and collected in George Orwell''s Most important Works illuminate the life and work of one of the most individual writers of the XX century - a man who elevated political writing to an art. This Collection included: · 1984 · ANIMAL FARM · A CLERGYMAN''S DAUGHTER · BURMESE DAYS · COMING UP FOR AIR · DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON · HOMAGE TO CATALONIA · KEEP THE ASPIDISTRA FLYING · LOOKING BACK ON THE SPANISH WAR · THE LION AND THE UNICORN · THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER

In his seminal work 1984, George Orwell crafts a dystopian narrative that delves into the perils of totalitarianism and the erosion of individuality. The novel is marked by its foreboding atmosphere, characterized by the omnipresence of Big Brother and the oppressive regime''s manipulation of truth through Newspeak. Orwell''s stark, incisive prose serves as both a warning and an exploration of the fragility of freedom in a world where surveillance and propaganda dominate everyday life. Set in the grim backdrop of Oceania, the narrative starkly contrasts the protagonist''s quest for truth and connection against a society that seeks to obliterate personal agency. George Orwell, born Eric Arthur Blair, was a keen observer of the socio-political landscape of his time, witnessing the rise of fascism and communism. His experiences in the Spanish Civil War and contempt for oppressive regimes deeply informed his writing. Orwell''Äôs unique blend of political insight and literary prowess emerges powerfully in 1984, a reflection of his enduring commitment to social justice and human rights amid escalating authoritarianism. For readers seeking a profound exploration of oppression and resilience, 1984 stands as a timeless cornerstone of literary and political discourse. This Modern Classics Series edition invites contemporary audiences to engage with Orwell''Äôs prescient vision, urging reflection on the present implications of his warnings.

George Orwell''s ''Animal Farm'' is a classic satirical novella that serves as a powerful allegory for the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent rise of the Soviet Union. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, the book uses farm animals to represent real-life political figures and events, making complex political ideas easily understandable. Orwell''s use of anthropomorphism and symbolism adds depth to the narrative, creating a thought-provoking reflection on power, corruption, and the nature of totalitarianism. This work stands out for its timeless relevance and stark critique of authoritarian regimes. Orwell''s mastery of storytelling and political commentary shines through in every page, making ''Animal Farm'' a must-read for anyone interested in political satire or historical fiction. The book''s lasting impact on literature and political discourse solidifies its place as a seminal work in the canon of English literature.

Nineteen Eighty-Four, often referred to as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by the English novelist George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell''s ninth and final book completed in his lifetime.

The Road to Wigan Pier is a book by the English writer George Orwell, first published in 1937. The first half of this work documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England before World War II. The second half is a long essay on his middle-class upbringing, and the development of his political conscience, questioning British attitudes towards socialism. Orwell states plainly that he himself is in favour of socialism, but feels it necessary to point out reasons why many people who would benefit from socialism, and should logically support it, are in practice likely to be strong opponents. According to Orwell biographer Bernard Crick, publisher Victor Gollancz first tried to persuade Orwell''s agent to allow the Left Book Club edition to consist solely of the descriptive first half of the book. When this was refused Gollancz wrote an introduction to the book. "Victor could not bear to reject it, even though his suggestion that the ''repugnant'' second half should be omitted from the Club edition was turned down. On this occasion Victor, albeit nervously, did overrule Communist Party objections in favour of his publishing instinct. His compromise was to publish the book with [an introduction] full of good criticism, unfair criticism, and half-truths." The book grapples "with the social and historical reality of Depression suffering in the north of England, - Orwell does not wish merely to enumerate evils and injustices, but to break through what he regards as middle-class oblivion, - Orwell''s corrective to such falsity comes first by immersion of his own body - a supreme measure of truth for Orwell - directly into the experience of misery.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a meter wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.

The Road to Wigan Pier is a book by the English writer George Orwell, first published in 1937. The first half of this work documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England before World War II

"Animal Farm" is a novel with regards to a gathering of animals who assume liability for the homestead they live on. The animals get exhausted of their lord, Farmer Jones, so they show him out. When they are liberated from the dictator Jones, life on the homestead is useful for some time and there is potential for a more joyful fate of less work, better training and more food. Nonetheless, inconvenience brews as the pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, battle for the hearts and brains of different animals on the homestead. Napoleon holds onto power forcibly and winds up... "Animal Farm" was composed by George Orwell and distributed in 1945 and it is considered by numerous his best book. This novel is a moral story - despite the fact that it is set on a homestead and stars a cast of livestock, it mirrors the occasions of the Russian upset of 1917. The creatures are for the most part cunning portrayals of Russian government officials, electors and laborers. Orwell utilized the novel to make his perspectives on Russian pioneers heard.

The Non-Fiction of George Orwell includes three memoirs, Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier, and Homage to Catalonia which provide an indispensable introduction to the thought and writing of George Orwell. Immediately after deciding to become a writer, the Eton-educated Orwell lived among the paupers and the poorest of working-class labourers in Paris and the East End of London, observing and recording. His first book Down and Out in Paris and London discusses not just the physical life of the poor, but also their inner life. "If you set yourself to it, you can live the same life, rich or poor. You can keep on with your books and your ideas. You just got to say to yourself, "I''m a free man in here" - he tapped his forehead - "and you''re all right." ― George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London "People are wrong when they think that an unemployed man only worries about losing his wages; on the contrary, an illiterate man, with the work habit in his bones, needs work even more than he needs money. An educated man can put up with enforced idleness, which is one of the worst evils of poverty ... The man who really merits pity is the man who has been down from the start, and faces poverty with a blank, resourceless mind." ― George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London. The Road to Wigan Pier, a highly original and unorthodox political treatise, describes Orwell''s experiences living among the destitute and unemployed miners of northern England, sharing, observing, and describing their lives. It concludes with a passionate description of socialism; a critique of the middle class, who, logically, should support it but are its most vociferous opponents; and a scathing critique of the socialist movements of the time. Robert McCrum describes the book''s essential role in the evolution of "George Orwell" "The upshot of this uniquely strange book was a kind of creative liberation: Eric Blair, who was now unequivocally George Orwell, had found his voice and his identity. For the rest of his active life - barely 10 years - he would write as a British literary socialist. From this declaration of intent come his masterpieces: Homage to Catalonia, Animal Farm and, finally, Nineteen Eighty-Four. It''s arguable that without The Road to Wigan Pier none of these would have been possible." Homage to Catalonia is Orwell''s account of his experiences as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. It was a formative period for his political thought and his subsequent writing. He states in Why I Write "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for Democratic Socialism, as I understand it." Homage to Catalonia, "politically and as literature ... is a work of first-class importance, " Geoffrey Gorer. "It shows us the heart of innocence that lies in revolution; also, the miasma of lying that, far more than the cruelty, takes the heart out of it, " Philip Mairet. George Orwell (1903-1950) was a leading British writer of the twentieth century. After studying at Eton as a King''s Scholar he joined the Indian Imperial Police until 1927 when, disgusted by imperialism, he resigned to pursue his boyhood dream of being a writer. Orwell was a prolific journalist, essayist, novelist and nonfiction writer. He is remembered for his prescient writing and his unwavering commitment to truth and clarity of expression. Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four have placed him at the very pinnacle of British literature.

"Burmese Days" is the first novel by English writer George Orwell, published in 1934. Set in British Burma during the waning days of Empire, when Burma was ruled from Delhi as part of British India, it is "a portrait of the dark side of the British Raj". At the centre of the novel is John Flory, "the lone and lacking individual trapped within a bigger system that is undermining the better side of human nature". The novel describes "both indigenous corruption and imperial bigotry" in a society where, "after all, natives were natives—interesting, no doubt, but finally...an inferior people". "Burmese Days" was first published "further afield", in the United States, because of concerns that it might be potentially libelous; that the real provincial town of Katha had been described too realistically; and that some of its fictional characters were based too closely on identifiable people. A British edition, with altered names, appeared a year later. Nonetheless, Orwell''s harsh portrayal of colonial society was felt by "some old Burma hands" to have "rather let the side down". In a letter from 1946, Orwell wrote, "I dare say it''s unfair in some ways and inaccurate in some details, but much of it is simply reporting what I have seen".

George Orwell set out ''to make political writing into an art'', and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell''s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Why I Write, the first in the Orwell''s Essays series, Orwell describes his journey to becoming a writer, and his movement from writing poems to short stories to the essays, fiction and non-fiction we remember him for. He also discusses what he sees as the ''four great motives for writing'' – ''sheer egoism'', ''aesthetic enthusiasm'', ''historical impulse'' and ''political purpose'' – and considers the importance of keeping these in balance. Why I Write is a unique opportunity to look into Orwell''s mind, and it grants the reader an entirely different vantage point from which to consider the rest of the great writer''s oeuvre.

1984 or Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, is a dystopian novel by English novelist George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949. 1984 is one of George Orwell''s most powerful politically charged novels, a beautifully crafted warning against the dangers of a totalitarian society, and one of the most famous novels in the dystopian genre. Winston Smith is a low-ranking member of the ruling party in London whose every move is monitored by telescreens. Everywhere Winston goes, the party''s omniscient leader, Big Brother, watches him. This is an important novel not only for its stark warning against abusive authority (and its somewhat ironic contribution to modern television content), but also for its insights into the power of manipulating language, history, and the psychology of fear and control. These issues are perhaps even more pertinent today than when Orwell penned his novel.

Keep the Aspidistra Flying, first published in 1936, is a socially critical novel by George Orwell. It is set in 1930s London. The main theme is Gordon Comstock''s romantic ambition to defy worship of the money-god and status, and the dismal life that results The aspidistra is a hardy, long-living plant that is used as a house plant in England, and which can grow to an impressive, even unwieldy size. It was especially popular in the Victorian era, in large part because it could tolerate not only weak sunlight but also the poor indoor air quality that resulted from the use of oil lamps and, later, coal gas lamps. They had fallen out of favour by the 20th century, following the advent of electric lighting. Their use had been so widespread among the middle class that they had become a music hall joke appearing in songs such as "Biggest Aspidistra in the World," of which Gracie Fields made a recording.

George Orwell was a novelist, essayist and critic best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. He was a man of strong opinions who addressed some of the major political movements of his times, including imperialism, fascism and communism. Animal Farm was published in 1945 when Orwell, a democratic socialist, was angered at Joseph Stalin for betraying the ideas of the Russian Revolution. In fact, that is the basis of Orwell''s book. The characters in Animal Farm resemble significant people that impacted the Russian Revolution. These characters act similarly to the real people and actions that were done in the past. Through this book, George Orwell exposes Stalin''s true nature and evils using a corrupt pig named Napoleon that eventually dictates the farm. Animal Farm is one of the most influential political texts ever written.

1984, ( Nineteen Eighty-Four) is a must-read classic 20th century novel. It is a futuristic distopian book that focuses on what life would be like under an authoritarian police state that engages in totalitarianism, repressing peoples actions and even engaging in mind control. They even invented a vocabulary to further theIr cause. Originally it was published in 1949 after Orwell''s acclaimed Animal Farm. 1984 and Animal Farm are considered by many to be George Orwell''s best work. Considering 1984 was first published in 1949, many of the concepts and themes that were integral to 1984, at the time of release were considered far-fetched or impossible back then. It makes Orwell like a 20th century Nastradamus who was able to see into the future. Parallels have been drawn between the novel''s subject matter and real life instances of totalitarianism, communism, mass surveillance, and violations of freedom of expression among other themes. As a book that people love to read, 1984 consistly ranks high in the best novel categories. In the article, Seventy Years Later, It''s Still ''1984'', "Matthew Feeney, commentator for the CATO Institute ( CATO . org ), describes 1984 like this:" "1984" is at its core a novel about language; how it can be used by governments to subjugate and obfuscate, and by citizens to resist oppression. Orwell was a master of the English language and his legacy lives on through some of the words he created. Even those who haven''t read "1984" know some of its "newspeak."" It has gained notoriety in the book ranking world: Ranked in Time Magazine''s100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005 #13 on Modern Library''s 100 Best Novels since 1900 (1999) #8 on The Big Read survey by the BBC. (2003) Nominated as one of America''s best-loved novels by PBS''s The Great American Read In addition to be popular in book rankings, it also has been responsible for new words entering into the English language. Much like the novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, brought the phrase catch-22.into the English language, 1984 has added many as well. The words and (phrases) listed below all come directly or indirectly from the novel 1984 Big Brother Room 101 Thought Police Thought-crime Un-person Memory hole (oblivion) Double-think (simultaneously holding and believing contradictory beliefs) Newspeak (ideological language) Double-speak Group-think "Orwellian" means similar to Orwell''s writings, especially 1984 Not everyone has liked 1984. Over the years it has been a target of many governments and groups that have wanted to ban & censor it. So it also has high ranking for being Banned, Censored or Challenged: #1 on Butler University Most Commonly Banned Books (June 2020) #8 On Time Magazine''s Top Ten Censored Books (2008) #9 in the American Library Association (ALA) Banned & Challenged Classics (2020)

Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often published as 1984, is a dystopian novel by English novelist George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell''s ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. The story was mostly written at Barnhill, a farmhouse on the Scottish island of Jura, at times while Orwell suffered from severe tuberculosis. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centres on the consequences of government over-reach, totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of all persons and behaviours within society The story takes place in an imagined future, the year 1984, when much of the world has fallen victim to perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, historical negationism, and propaganda. Great Britain, known as Airstrip One, has become a province of a superstate named Oceania that is ruled by the Party who employ the Thought Police to persecute individuality and independent thinking.[4] Big Brother, the leader of the Party, enjoys an intense cult of personality despite the fact that he may not exist. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a diligent and skillful rank-and-file worker and Party member who secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion. He enters a forbidden relationship with a co-worker, Julia.

ReviewTrue Agony of a Socialist Orwell is obviously angry at the way Socialism has been distorted by Stalin. Using Animal characters as symbols Orwell honestly mocks and criticizes the Russian leadership under Lenin. It is a very easy to read book giving good perspectives on the Socialist Revolution. --Abhishek Kona Aug 22, 2011Animal Farm is a satirical allegory on the Russian Revolution. Orwell explains it, It is the history of revolution that went wrong. It tells the simple and tragic story of what happens when the oppressed farm rebel to attain freedom from Mr. Jones. It is about their attempt to rule the farm themselves on the basis of equality. The animals had initially aimed to form a utopian society, where each would work according to his capacity, respecting the needs of the others. But, they failed to do so. And, Animal Farm ended up being a dictatorship of the pigs that were the brightest, but did no physical work in reality. The main action of the story stands for The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early years of the Soviet Union. Animalism is a metaphor for Communism. Manor farm is an allegory of Russia, Mr. Jones is Russian C-Zar, Old Major stands for Karl Marx, and Snowball represents Leo Trotsky. Napolean stands for Stalin, while the dogs are the secret police. The horse, Boxer stands for the working class which works constantly for the greater good while Squealer is the propagandist. The novel is skillfully organized and presents the horrors of communism through simple story-telling. It presents what propaganda and brain washing do to the people living under the dictatorship. How the fickle minded people were swayed easily by the pigs, who managed to reverse the seven commandments and reduce them to Four legs good, two legs better . I would recommend this book to everyone above 14 years of age who has some knowledge about communism or a hint of what happened during the Russian Revolution of 1917. The book is gripping as there is always something happening. It ends with the pigs becoming mush like humans and changing the name of the farm back to the Manor Farm . The ending was sad it shows how power turns comrades into tyrannical dictators. --Diksha Mahajan Aug 14, 2012George Orwell is probably one of the few authors who has more than one book featuring regularly in the all the favorites of most people. In such a short book, we get to experience the entire range of the human emotions - probably characterized by the animals. But, what this book basically makes us realize is the fact that politics is relevant at all times. --Deep Agrawal Mar 2, 2012About the AuthorAbout the Author: The author of Animal Farm is George Orwell. His real name was Eric Arthur Blair. He was a very popular novelist, essayist, critic and journalist. His works spoke out against the social injustice that was prevalent at that time. He was in favour of democratic socialism and was opposed to totalitarianism. He continues to be held in high esteem as one of the most influential voices of his time, who spoke out about the English culture, as it was, during his lifespan.

Suatu malam, Major, si babi tua yang bijaksana, mengumpulkan para binatang di peternakan untuk bercerita tentang mimpinya. Setelah sekian lama hidup di bawah tirani manusia, Major mendapat visi bahwa kelak sebuah pemberontakan akan dilakukan binatang terhadap manusia; menciptakan sebuah dunia di mana binatang akan berkuasa atas dirinya sendiri. Tak lama, pemberontakan benar-benar terjadi. Kekuasaan manusia digulingkan di bawah pimpinan dua babi cerdas: Snowball dan Napoleon. Namun, kekuasaan ternyata sungguh memabukkan. Demokrasi yang digaungkan perlahan berbelok kembali menjadi tiran di mana pemimpin harus selalu benar. Dualisme kepemimpinan tak bisa dibiarkan. Salah satu harus disingkirkan … walau harus dengan kekerasan. Animal Farm merupakan novel alegori politik yang ditulis Orwell pada masa Perang Dunia II sebagai satire atas totaliterisme Uni Soviet. Dianugerahi Retro Hugo Award untuk novela terbaik (1996) dan Prometheus Hall of Fame Award (2011), Animal Farm menjadi mahakarya Orwell yang melejitkan namanya. [Mizan, Bentang Pustaka, Novel, Klasik, Fenomenal, Terjemahan, Indonesia]

Sepanjang hidupnya, Winston berusaha menjadi warga negara yang baik dengan mematuhi setiap aturan Partai meski jauh di dalam hati dan pikirannya bersemayam antipati terhadap kediktatoran yang ada di negaranya. Walaupun begitu, Winston tidak berani melakukan perlawanan secara terbuka. Tidak mengherankan, karena Polisi Pikiran, teleskrin, dan mikrofon tersembunyi membuat privasi hanya serupa fantasi. Bahkan, sejarah ditulis ulang sesuai kehendak Partai. Negara berkuasa mutlak atas rakyatnya. Yang berbeda atau bertentangan akan segera diuapkan. 1984 merupakan satire tajam, menyajikan gambaran tentang luluhnya kehidupan masyarakat totalitarian masa depan yang di dalamnya setiap gerak warga dipelajari, setiap kata yang terucap disadap, dan setiap pemikiran dikendalikan. Hingga kini, 1984 merupakan karya penting Orwell yang mengantarkannya ke puncak kemasyhuran. [Mizan, Bentang Pustaka, Masa Depan, Novel, Terjemahan, Satire, Indonesia]

75th ANNIVERSARY EDITION “Orwell saw, to his credit, that the act of falsifying reality is only secondarily a way of changing perceptions. It is, above all, a way of asserting power.”—The New Yorker In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be. Lionel Trilling said of Orwell’s masterpiece, “1984 is a profound, terrifying, and wholly fascinating book. It is a fantasy of the political future, and like any such fantasy, serves its author as a magnifying device for an examination of the present.” Though the year 1984 now exists in the past, Orwell’s novel remains an urgent call for the individual willing to speak truth to power.

Appearing for the first time in one volume, these trenchant letters tell the eloquent narrative of Orwell’s life in his own words. From his school days to his tragic early death, George Orwell, who never wrote an autobiography, chronicled the dramatic events of his turbulent life in a profusion of powerful letters. Indeed, one of the twentieth century’s most revered icons was a lively, prolific correspondent who developed in rich, nuanced dispatches the ideas that would influence generations of writers and intellectuals. This historic work—never before published in America and featuring many previously unseen letters—presents an account of Orwell’s interior life as personal and absorbing as readers may ever see. Over the course of a lifetime, Orwell corresponded with hundreds of people, including many distinguished political and artistic figures. Witty, personal, and profound, the letters tell the story of Orwell’s passionate first love that ended in devastation and explains how young Eric Arthur Blair chose the pseudonym "George Orwell." In missives to luminaries such as T. S. Eliot, Stephen Spender, Arthur Koestler, Cyril Connolly, and Henry Miller, he spells out his literary and philosophical beliefs. Readers will encounter Orwell’s thoughts on matters both quotidian (poltergeists and the art of playing croquet) and historical—including his illuminating descriptions of war-shattered Barcelona and pronouncements on bayonets and the immanent cruelty of chaining German prisoners. The letters also reveal the origins of his famous novels. To a fan he wrote, "I think, and have thought ever since the war began…that our cause is the better, but we have to keep on making it the better, which involves constant criticism." A paragraph before, he explained that the British intelligentsia in 1944 were "perfectly ready for dictatorial methods, secret police, systematic falsification of history," prefiguring the themes of 1984. Entrusting the manuscript of Animal Farm to Leonard Moore, his literary agent, Orwell describes it as "a sort of fairy story, really a fable with political meaning…This book is murder from the Communist point of view." Hardly known outside a small circle of Orwell scholars, these rare letters include Orwell’s message to Dwight Macdonald of 5 December 1946 explaining Animal Farm; his correspondence with his first translator, R. N. Raimbault (with English translations of the French originals); and the moving encomium written about Orwell by his BBC head of department after his service there. The volume concludes with a fearless account of the painful illness that took Orwell’s life at age forty-seven. His last letter concerns his son and his estate and closes with the words, "Beyond that I can’t make plans at present." Meticulously edited and fully annotated by Peter Davison, the world’s preeminent Orwell scholar, the volume presents Orwell “in all his varieties” and his relationships with those most close to him, especially his first wife, Eileen. Combined with rare photographs and hand-drawn illustrations, George Orwell: A Life in Letters offers "everything a reader new to Orwell needs to know…and a great deal that diehard fans will be enchanted to have" (New Statesmen).

''An unrivalled picture of the rumours, suspicions and treachery of civil war'' Antony Beevor Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it''. Thus wrote Orwell following his experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War, chronicled in Homage to Catalonia. Here he brings to bear all the force of his humanity, passion and clarity, describing with bitter intensity the bright hopes and cynical betrayals of that chaotic episode: the revolutionary euphoria of Barcelona, the courage of ordinary Spanish men and women he fought alongside, the terror and confusion of the front, his near-fatal bullet wound and the vicious treachery of his supposed allies. A firsthand account of the brutal conditions of the Spanish Civil War, George Orwell''s Homage to Catalonia includes an introduction by Julian Symons.

First published in 1949, George Orwell''s Nineteen Eighty-Four has lost none of the impact with which it first hit readers. Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent - even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101. . .

One of the BBC''s ''100 Novels that Shaped the World'' ''Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past'' Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal. George Orwell''s dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four is perhaps the most pervasively influential book of the twentieth century.

The downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust their drunken human master and take over management of the land. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars, and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. Setting out with the highest ideals and the best of intentions, the animals soon discover that the craving for power among some of them leads inexorably to dictatorship, corruption and disillusionment.

This title brings George Orwell''s classic satire Animal Farm together with the author''s other works exploring the nature of politics and the Second World War. His topics include: corrupt political language, the oppressive British Empire, and a wry review of Mein Kampf .

George Orwell is a major figure in twentieth-century literature. The author of Down and Out in Paris and London, Nineteen Eighty-four, and Animal Farm, he published ten books and two collections of essays during his lifetime - but in terms of actual words, produced much more than seems possible for someone who died at the age of forty-six and was often struggling against poverty and ill health. His essays, letters, and journalism are among the most memorable, lucid, and intelligent ever written, the work of a master craftsman and a brilliant mind. Taken as a whole they form an essential collection, and read in toto and sequentially, they provide a remarkably literary self-portrait of an engaged, and consistently engaging, writer.