Newspeak, Doublethink, Big Brother, the Thought Police - the language of 1984 has passed into the English Language as a symbol of the horrors of totalitarianism. George Orwell's story of Winston Smith's fight against the all-pervading party has become a classic, not the least because of its intellectual coherence.

Accolades

Runner-up for The BBC Big Read Top 100 2003.
Runner-up for The BBC Big Read Top 21 2003.
Shortlisted for BBC Big Read Top 100 2003.

Author Biography

George Orwell, real name Eric Blair, was born in 1903 in Bengal. He served with the Indian Imperial Police, and later came to Europe, doing a series of ill-paid jobs which led to his writing DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON. He fought in the SpanishCivil War for the Republicans, but in later years became disillusioned with the aims of Communism, which led to the writing of his two most famous political satires, ANIMAL FARM and NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR, which were immensely popular. He died in 1950.