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The Penguin books that shaped our political understanding

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Where to start reading George Orwell

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Must-read sci-fi classics

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How George Orwell covers have evolved through the decades

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Animal Farm: How the covers have changed through the decades

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7 brilliant authors who wrote their best books late in their careers

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A Hebridean island, grow-your-own and boat accidents: Nineteen Eighty-Four’s unlikely genesis

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Books that shaped the 1940s

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Books they tried to ban

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12 essential George Orwell quotes about freedom

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11 scarily accurate George Orwell quotes about truth

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7 riveting novels on battles for power

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Extracts

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

1984

Winston Smith begins a forbidden diary in a world where the state watches every word, thought and desire. This beautiful deluxe gift edition presents Orwell’s must-read dystopian novel with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and a silk ribbon.In Airstrip One, Big Brother watches constantly. The Party controls language, history, memory and desire, while the Thought Police hunt even private dissent. Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting records to fit each new lie. His secret diary and forbidden love for Julia become acts of rebellion, but in this world no hiding place stays safe for long.1984 is a terrifying classic about surveillance, totalitarianism, propaganda, censorship and the erasure of individuality. This Vintage Collector’s Classics edition is a striking gift for readers, collectors and anyone seeking a beautifully bound version of Orwell’s essential dystopia.**READERS ARE OBESSED WITH VINTAGE COLLECTOR’S CLASSICS** 'These might be the most beautiful books I've ever seen. Get them in an art gallery.’ 'The marbled paper, I could cry.' 'Love love love this collection. ' 'I must have all of them.' 'Our beloved classics with sprayed edges too! They are absolutely STUNNING!' 
 
**The ultimate beautiful classic, a gift for all book lovers**

George Orwell (Author) 
George Orwell (1903–1950) is one of England's most famous writers and social commentators. He is the author of the classic political satire Animal Farm and the dystopian masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is also well known for his essays and journalism, particularly his works covering his travels and his time fighting in the Spanish Civil War. His writing is celebrated for its piercing clarity, purpose and wit and his books continue to be bestsellers all over the world.

JOIN THE OBSESSION 
'These might be the most beautiful books I've ever seen? Get them in an art gallery' 
'The marbled paper, I could cry' 
'Love love love this collection ' 
'I must have all of them' 
'Our beloved classics with sprayed edges too! They are absolutely STUNNING!' 
 
A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Orwell's terrifying, must-read dystopian novel about the erasure of individuality and free thought, with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and finished with a silk ribbon. 
 
The year is 1984. War and revolution have created an unrecognisable world. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, is ruled by the Party, led by Big Brother. Mass surveillance is total and The Thought Police ensure no individual thinking is allowed. 
 
Winston Smith works at The Ministry of Truth, carefully rewriting history. But Winston dreams of freedom, and of rebellion. It is here that he falls in love with Julia, and starts a secret, forbidden affair with her - but in this world nothing can be kept secret, and they are forced to face consequences more terrifying than either of them could have ever imagined. 
 
This hardback is part of VINTAGE COLLECTOR’S CLASSICS, a series of luxurious books especially crafted for collectors and fans of beautiful special editions. Sumptuous design meets the highest quality production. Discover timeless classics beautifully bound for every bookshelf.

Can Socialists be Happy?

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books 
 
No thinking person can or does genuinely keep out of politics, in an age like the present one 
 
Unfailingly wise and often startlingly prophetic, George Orwell’s essays are masterpieces of plain English prose. This stirring new collection brings together his most cherished pieces with lesser-known gems, ranging over everything from tree planting to living with the atom bomb, sleeping rough to the perils of getting what you want in politics.

Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figures in twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegory Animal Farm was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. His novels and non-fiction include Burmese Days, Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia.

Homage to Catalonia

A war story that is both brutally honest and lyrically beautiful

Homage to Catalonia belongs in any list of important books on the Spanish civil war

George Orwell (1903–1950) is one of England's most famous writers and social commentators. He is the author of the classic political satire Animal Farm and the dystopian masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is also well known for his essays and journalism, particularly his works covering his travels and his time fighting in the Spanish Civil War. His writing is celebrated for its piercing clarity, purpose and wit and his books continue to be bestsellers all over the world.

This is Orwell's memoir of his experiences during the Spanish Civil War - a groundbreaking work of dissident literature drawn from vivid personal experience. 
 
There are occasions where it pays better to fight and be beaten than not to fight at all... 
 
This is dissident literature drawn from vivid personal experience. Orwell volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War, was near-fatally wounded and survived to write this book about the experience. Written with all the deep human understanding that defines Orwell’s writing, he vividly recounts the battles that were faced by ordinary working people as they fought for both their lives and their ideologies. Using first-hand experience, his capacity for observation and the clarity and conviction of his writing, Orwell reveals the real-world effects of totalitarianism. 
 
'The finest model of how to write about a foreign conflict, a war or a revolution... Brilliant reportage' Timothy Garten-Ash 
 
'[Orwell] describes what is happening in Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War in such a way that we are able to see why he’s so upset about Soviet power. His argument is not one of category and concept but of irresistible observation' Timothy Snyder 
 
'When he went to Spain, [Orwell] was an unknown. He wasn’t Hemingway. He wasn’t a well-connected intellectual. He just had this amazing eye for detail. He was an amazing observer, and he could write so powerfully. This book, to me, is just one of the classics of foreign reporting' Guy Raz

Orwell remains the most indispensable English writer of his period

Matchlessly sharp and fresh... The clearest and most compelling English prose style this century

Many writers and journalists have tried to imitate his particular kind of clarity without possessing anything like his moral authority

George Orwell (Author) George Orwell (1903–1950) is one of England's most famous writers and social commentators. He is the author of the classic political satire Animal Farm and the dystopian masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is also well known for his essays and journalism, particularly his works covering his travels and his time fighting in the Spanish Civil War. His writing is celebrated for its piercing clarity, purpose and wit and his books continue to be bestsellers all over the world. Robert Harris (Introducer) Robert Harris is the author of sixteen bestselling novels: the Cicero Trilogy - Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator - Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, The Ghost, The Fear Index, An Officer and a Spy, which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, Conclave, Munich, The Second Sleep, V2, Act of Oblivion and Precipice. His work has been translated into forty languages and nine of his books have been adapted for cinema and television. He lives in West Berkshire with his wife, Gill Hornby.

A dystopian masterpiece - the powerful and prophetic novel that defined the twentieth century. 
 
The year is 1984. War and revolution have created an unrecognisable world. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, is ruled by the Party, led by Big Brother. Mass surveillance is total and The Thought Police ensure no individual thinking is allowed. 
 
Winston Smith works at The Ministry of Truth, carefully rewriting history. But Winston dreams of freedom, and of rebellion. It is here that he falls in love with Julia, and starts a secret, forbidden affair with her - but in this world nothing can be kept secret, and they are forced to face consequences more terrifying than either of them could have ever imagined. 
 
'A profound, terrifying, and wholly fascinating book' New Yorker 
 
'No novel of the past century has had more influence than George Orwell&rsquo;s 1984' Atlantic 
 
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT HARRIS

Down and Out in Paris and London

An extraordinary and curious book: beautifully phrased, meticulous, honest and funny. George Orwell&rsquo;s 1933 memoir, and a study of poverty, is a book both rooted in its era and able to transcend it... a book that has inspired countless people to try to understand the personal and political issues at the heart of homelessness &ndash; and continues to do so today.

Vivid and lurid and unappetizing, are the pictures he gives of what goes on behind the scenes, human and otherwise

It was the book of nonfiction in which he becomes George Orwell

'You can live on a shilling a day in Paris if you know how. But it is a complicated business' 
 
As a struggling writer in his twenties, Orwell lived as a down-and-out among the poorest members of society. In this, his early memoir, Orwell recalls with vivid clarity his time working as a penniless dishwasher in Paris, pawning clothes to buy a day's worth of bread and wine, sleeping in bug-infested bunks, trading survival skills and cigarette butts with fellow tramps, and trudging between London's workhouse spikes for a few hours' sleep and tea. With all of the sensitivity and compassion that Orwell is known and loved for, he exposed the hardships of poverty and gave readers an unprecedented look at life lived on the fringes of society. 
 
This vivid account is an enduring call to support the world's most vulnerable people and exemplifies his belief that 'The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty.' 
 
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY KERRY HUDSON

Animal Farm

Remains our great satire of the darker face of modern history

Animal Farm has seen off all the opposition. It's as valid as today as it was fifty years ago

It immediately established itself in the reader's imagination, and in the reader's political discourse. The book will survive all its editions

Surely one of the greatest works of literature of the 20th century, delivering truths about politics that remain, to this hour, horribly disturbing

To say that I was horrified by this book is an understatement&hellip; The whole experience was deeply disturbing to me, but I am forever grateful to Orwell for alerting me early to the danger flags I've tried to watch out for since

George Orwell (Author) 
George Orwell (1903-1950) is one of England's most famous writers and social commentators. He is the author of the classic political satire Animal Farm and the dystopian masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is also well known for his essays and journalism, particularly his works covering his travels and his time fighting in the Spanish Civil War. His writing is celebrated for its piercing clarity, purpose and wit and his books continue to be bestsellers all over the world. 
 
Christopher Hitchens (Introducer) 
Christopher Hitchens was an English-born American author, journalist and literary critic. He was a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, World Affairs, The Nation, Slate, Free Inquiry, and a variety of other media in a career that spanned more than four decades and made him a prominent public intellectual, and a staple of talk shows and lecture circuits. His books include The Monarchy; Blood, Class, and Nostalgia; No One Left to Lie Toand God Is Not Great. He died in 2011.

'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others' 
 
Mr Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, is a lazy drunk. The animals decide to overthrow him in a revolution that will allow them to run the farm, liberating themselves and creating a new life of equality and freedom. But they have underestimated the pigs. Napoleon and Snowball form an elite and take control for themselves, and the tyranny of the farmer is replaced with another kind of control leaving the animals again subject to a ruthless and cruel authority. 
 
Imagined only as Orwell could, this powerful fable is instilled with humour and an underlying urgency that makes this one of the most prescient warnings ever written. 
 
'Surely one of the greatest works of literature of the 20th century, delivering truths about politics that remain, to this hour, horribly disturbing' The Times 
 
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

Four Full-Cast Dramatisations of Modern Classics

Banned Books: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

Four modern masterpieces that dared to push boundaries and disrupt the status quo 
 
Deviant. Depraved. Dangerous. Denounced for their transgressive themes and inflammatory ideas, these 20th-century classics have all been considered so seditious that they had to be suppressed. Find out what made these iconic works so threatening to governments worldwide in these superlative dramatisations, featuring stellar casts and specially composed music. 
 
Ulysses – Prosecuted for obscenity in the UK and US, James Joyce’s seminal novel tells the combined stories of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, as they wander through Dublin on one ordinary day: 16th June 1904. 
 
The Well of Loneliness – Radclyffe Hall’s groundbreaking tale of lesbian love was judged as obscene soon after its publication in 1928, and banned in the UK for over 20 years. It centres around Stephen, a baby girl born to well-to-do parents who grows up feeling ‘different’ and knows she will never be attracted to a man. But will she always be an outcast? 
 
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley's visionary dystopian fable, banned in Ireland and Australia when it first appeared in 1932, portrays a corrupt future society where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science and the drug soma is the opiate of the people. Token dissidents Bernard Marx and Helmholtz Watson long to be free – but it is an outsider, John ‘the Savage’, who shows them the true meaning of rebellion. 
 
Nineteen Eighty-Four – London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Ministry of Truth employee Winston Smith finds love with Julia, the duo begin to question the Party – but for enemies of the state, Room 101 awaits… George Orwell’s classic tale, banned in the Soviet Union until 1988 and still one of the most-challenged books in the USA today. 
 
The star-studded casts of these dramatisations include Andrew Scott, Henry Goodman, Niamh Cusack, Stephen Rea, Valerie Edmond, Amanda Root, Justin Salinger, John Coy, Milton Lopes, Christopher Eccleston, Pippa Nixon and Tim Pigott-Smith. 
 
First published 1918 (Ulysses), 1928 (The Well of Loneliness), 1932 (Brave New World), 1949 (Nineteen Eighty-Four) 
 
 
Cast and credits 
 
Ulysses 
Cast: Stephen Rea, Andrew Scott, Kevin Trainor, Harry Livingstone, Janet Moran, Ronan Raftery, Jim Norton, Joshua Ellershaw, Aidan Dunlop, Henry Goodman, Niamh Cusack, Grainne Keenan, Stephen Hogan, Des McAleer, Christine Absalom, Jonathan Forbes, Bronagh Taggart, Sean Campion, John Rogan, Peter Hamilton Dyer, Joshua Ellershaw, Lorcan Cranitch, Gerard McDermott, Denise Gough, Pip Donaghy, Frances Barber, Susie Riddell 
 
Written by James Joyce 
Dramatised by Robin Brooks 
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Jonquil Panting 
Produced by Jeremy Mortimer 
Executive producer: Claire Grove 
Singer: Daire Halpin 
Pianist: Colin Guthrie 
 
The Well of Loneliness 
Cast: Valerie Edmond, Alexandra Bateman, Roberta Kerr, Rob Pickvance, Amanda Root, Sarah Parks, Paul Warriner, Russell Dixon, Katy Cavanagh, Sara Kaplan, Thomas Hudson, Martin Reeve, Paul Warriner, Katy Cavanagh, Malcolm Hebden 
 
Written by Radclyffe Hall 
Dramatised by Sarah Woods 
Directed by Melanie Harris 
Music composed and performed by Odaline de la Martinez 
Celloist: Andy Wardale 
Violinist: Janet Fuste 
 
Brave New World 
Cast: Justin Salinger, Jonathan Coy, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Anton Lesser, Milton Lopes, Karina Fernandez, Nicola Ferguson, Sam Rix, James Lailey, Sean Baker, Scarlett Brookes, Brian Protheroe, Nick Underwood 
 
Written by Aldous Huxley 
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway 
Directed by David Hunter 
 
Nineteen Eighty-Four 
Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Pippa Nixon, Tim Pigott-Smith, Kim Wall, Robert Blythe, Sam Alexander, Susie Riddell, Christine Absalom, Don Gilet, Joe Sims and Joshua Swinney 
 
Written by George Orwell 
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway 
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer 
 
 
(P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Nineteen Eighty-four

George Orwell (Author) 
Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figures in twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegory Animal Farm was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. His novels and non-fiction include Burmese Days, Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia. 
 
Ronald Carter (Introducer) 
Ronald Carter was the Emeritus Professor of Modern English Language at the University of Nottingham. He published more than forty books, including The Penguin Guide to English Literature (with John McRae).

Winston Smith lives in a world that controls every action and thought of its citizens through the all-seeing eye of Big Brother. Outwardly he seems to be an obedient citizen, yet inwardly he rebels against the system. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with his fellow worker Julia, but soon discovers that the price of freedom is betrayal… 
 
This special student edition of George Orwell’s timeless dystopia is specifically designed for readers who are studying the text in detail, featuring:<ul><li>Extra-wide margins to leave space for notes</li><li>An introduction and notes by Orwell expert Ronald Carter</li><li>Character sketches</li><li>Chapter summaries</li><li>A chronology</li><li>Language notes</li><li>A selection of questions and topics for discussion and analysis</li></ul>

When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr Jones and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. But gradually a cunning, ruthless élite among them starts to take control, and the animals find themselves hopelessly ensnared as one form of tyranny is replaced with another. 
 
This special student edition of George Orwell’s chilling satire is specifically designed for readers who are studying the text in detail, featuring:<ul><li>Extra-wide margins to leave space for notes</li><li>An introduction and notes by Orwell expert Ronald Carter</li><li>Character sketches</li><li>Chapter summaries</li><li>A chronology</li><li>Language notes</li><li>A selection of questions and topics for discussion and analysis</li></ul>

Shooting an Elephant

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith 
 
Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil. 
 
Today, George Orwell is perhaps most famous for his iconic novels - Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm - but in his own time it was his remarkable nonfiction writing which drew most attention. Kind-hearted, intelligent, often funny, occasionally indignant, always insightful: his essays are some of the best ever written. Among others, this selection includes 'Shooting an Elephant', 'Such, Such Were the Joys' and 'Some Thoughts on the Common Toad'.

Today, George Orwell is perhaps most famous for his iconic novels - Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm - but in his own time it was his remarkable nonfiction writing which drew most attention. Kind-hearted, intelligent, often funny, occasionally indignant, always insightful: his essays are some of the best ever written. Among others, this selection includes 'Shooting an Elephant', 'Such, Such Were the Joys' and 'Some Thoughts on the Common Toad'.

The Time Machine, We, The Trial, Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Chrysalids

Classic Dystopias: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

Full-cast dramatisations of six masterpieces from the founding fathers of dystopian fiction 
 
Dark and disturbing, provocative and prescient, dystopian literature has long captured our imagination with its nightmarish visions of forbidding future worlds. Included here are six classic novels of time-travel, totalitarianism and terror, written by some of the masters of speculative fiction and adapted for radio with all-star casts. 
 
The Time Machine by HG Wells - A Victorian inventor takes a fateful journey into the far future, where mankind has diverged into two species - the Eloi and the Morlocks. Robert Glenister and William Gaunt star in this pioneering science fiction adventure. 
 
We by Evgeny Zamyatin - In a post-revolutionary future, OneState is ruled according to the principles of rationality. The penalty for dissent is death. But when engineer D-503 meets the beautiful 1-330, he begins to question everything... Starring Anton Lesser, Don Warrington and Brigit Forsyth. 
 
The Trial by Franz Kafka - Josef K is an ordinary man who lives a quiet life. Then, one morning, he is awoken by two men and arrested - but what is his crime? Mike Gwylim stars in this gripping dramatisation by Hanif Kureishi. 
 
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - It's 2116 and Helmholtz Watson and Bernard Marx are token rebels in a society where eugenics, promiscuity and happiness are gently enforced. Into this world comes an outsider, John, who will show the duo what rebellion really means... Starring Justin Salinger, John Coy and Milton Lopes. 
 
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell - Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history to suit the Party. When he finds love with Julia, he awakens to new possibilities - but free thinking is forbidden, and Big Brother is always watching... Christopher Eccleston and Pippa Nixon star in Orwell's chilling tale. 
 
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham - In a post-apocalyptic world devastated by genetic mutation, the God-respecting people of Waknuk regard deviation as the work of the Devil. Young David and his friends can communicate by telepathy: but as Mutants, they must hide their powers or face the consequences of discovery... Starring Matthew Beard, Verity-May Henry and Emma Cunniffe. 
 
First published 1899 (The Time Machine), 1921 (We), 1925 (The Trial), 1932 (Brave New World), 1949 (Nineteen Eighty-Four), 1955 (The Chrysalids) 
 
(P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. © 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

H. G. Wells (Author) H.G. Wells was a professional writer and journalist who published more than a hundred books, including pioneering science fiction novels, histories, essays and programmes for world regeneration. He was a founding member of numerous movements including Liberty and PEN International - the world's oldest human rights organization - and his Rights of Man laid the groundwork for the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Wells' controversial and progressive views on equality and the shape of a truly developed nation remain directly relevant to our world today. He was, in Bertrand Russell's words, 'an important liberator of thought and action'. Franz Kafka (Author) Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was born of Jewish parents in Prague. Several of his story collections were published in his lifetime and his novels, The Trial, The Castle and Amerika, were published posthumously by his editor Max Brod. George Orwell (Author) George Orwell (1903–1950) is one of England's most famous writers and social commentators. He is the author of the classic political satire Animal Farm and the dystopian masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is also well known for his essays and journalism, particularly his works covering his travels and his time fighting in the Spanish Civil War. His writing is celebrated for its piercing clarity, purpose and wit and his books continue to be bestsellers all over the world. John Wyndham (Author) John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris was born in 1903. He had a variety of careers before becoming an author, but decided to take up writing professionally in 1925. Under several pseudonyms, he wrote numerous short stories for American science fiction magazines. During World War II, he worked in the Ministry of Information before serving in the army, and took part in the Normandy landings. He returned to writing in 1946, using the pen name John Wyndham, and The Day of the Triffids was published in 1951. It was a huge success, and was followed by seven further novels. He died in 1969.

The Graphic Novel

Nineteen Eighty-Four

The first ever graphic novel adaptation of George Orwell's timeless dystopia 
 
Winston Smith, an outwardly obedient citizen of Airstrip One, dreams secretly of truth and freedom - but his rebellion will come at a terrible cost. George Orwell's dark masterpiece has enthralled readers for over seventy years. Now the dystopian world of Big Brother, telescreens, the Thought Police and Room 101 is vividly brought to new life in this first ever graphic novel adaptation, illustrated by acclaimed artist Fido Nesti.

Fido Nesti has done a grand job of depicting Orwell's dystopian nightmare ... The writer himself, you like to think, would have been most proud of this new graphic interpretation

Hand this to readers who are new to 1984 or hesitant to take up a classic

George Orwell (Author) Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figures in twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegory Animal Farm was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. His novels and non-fiction include Burmese Days, Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia. Fido Nesti (Illustrator) Fido Nesti was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1971. A self-taught artist, he has worked in illustration and comics for over twenty-five years. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and Americas Quarterly, among many other publications.

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.

Penguin Modern Classics

When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master, Mr Jones, and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. But gradually a cunning, ruthless elite among them, masterminded by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, starts to take control. Soon the other animals discover that they are not all as equal as they thought, and find themselves hopelessly ensnared as one form of tyranny is replaced with another. Orwell's chilling 'fairy story' is a timeless and devastating satire of idealism betrayed by power and corruption.

'It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism - the real motives for which despotic governments act' 
 
Shooting an Elephant was the first piece of writing by George Orwell to be published by Penguin, in 1940. It is a searing and honest account of his experience as a police officer in imperial Burma: killing an escaped elephant in front of a crowd, solely to avoid looking like a fool.

Shooting an Elephant is Orwell's searing and painfully honest account of his experience as a police officer in imperial Burma; wearing the mask of Empire, committing an act of cruelty, 'solely to avoid looking a fool'. One of Orwell's greatest essays, the claustrophobic sense rendered between conquered, conqueror, and conscience would later be drawn out in his two great works of literature, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm.

The Annotated Edition

George Orwell's masterwork, now in the Penguin Clothbound Classics series with a cover designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith 
 
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.

Orwell and Politics

Including Animal Farm 
 
'Orwell is the most influential political writer of the twentieth century' New York Review of Books 
 
Throughout his life George Orwell aimed, in his words, to make 'political writing into an art'. This collection brings together the best of his matchless political essays and journalism with his timeless satire on totalitarianism, Animal Farm. It includes articles on subjects from the corruption of language to the oppressive British Empire; his masterly wartime Socialist polemic, 'The Lion and the Unicorn'; a wry review of Mein Kampf; a defence of Nineteen Eighty-Four; and extracts from his controversial list of 'Crypto-Communists'. Together these works demonstrate Orwell's commitment to telling the truth, however unpalatable, and doing so with artistry and humanity. 
 
Edited by Peter Davison with an Introduction by Timothy Garton Ash

George Orwell (Author) Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figures in twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegory Animal Farm was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. His novels and non-fiction include Burmese Days, Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia. Peter Davison (External Editor) Peter Davison is Research Professor of English at De Montfort University, Leicester. He edited the twenty volumes of Orwell's collected works, as well as his diaries.

This comprehensive collection brings together the best of George Orwell's powerful political essays and journalism with his timeless satire on totalitarianism, Animal Farm. They show the vast range of his political interests, with articles expressing his views on subjects from corrupt political language to the oppressive British Empire; his masterly wartime Socialist polemic; 'The Lion and the Unicorn'; a wry review of Mein Kampf; a defence of Nineteen Eight-Four; and extracts from his controversial list of 'Crypto-communists'.

Orwell and the Dispossessed

Including Down and Out in Paris and London 
 
'Orwell was the great moral force of his age' Spectator 
 
The powerful writings collected together in this volume chronicle George Orwell's first-hand experiences of life among the underclass of the 'two nations' of rich and poor. Down and Out in Paris and London is the young Orwell's memoir of his time as a struggling, often penniless writer, living among the destitute and dispossessed, in which he exposes what 'going to the dogs' is really like. There are also articles and letters on sleeping rough in Trafalgar Square, being arrested for drunkenness, on the poverty Orwell witnessed in Morocco and India, and his shocking essay, 'How the Poor Die'. 
 
Edited by Peter Davison with an Introduction by Peter Clarke

The vivid, impassioned writings collected together in this powerful volume chronicle Orwell's first-hand experiences of life among the underclass of the 'two nations' of rich and poor. 
 
Down and Out in Paris and London is the young Orwell's memoir of his time as a struggling, often penniless writer, living among the destitute and dispossessed. Here he exposes a world unimaginable to most of his readers, one of vile doss-houses, hunger, squalor, and desperate poverty -- of 'going to the dogs'. There are also articles and letters on sleeping rough in Trafalgar Square, being arrested for drunkenness, on the poverty Orwell witnessed in Morocco and India, and his shocking essay, 'How the Poor Die'.

Orwell's England

Including The Road to Wigan Pier 
 
'No one wrote better about the English character than Orwell' New York Review of Books 
 
Much of George Orwell's best writing, brought together in this collection, is concerned with his complex, often contradictory attitude to England. In the brilliantly perceptive The English People, he lists the national characteristics as 'suspicion of foreigners, sentimentality about animals, hypocrisy, exaggerated class distinctions and an obsession with sport'. The Road to Wigan Pier, his blistering account of poverty in the north of England, and many of his essays, attack what he called 'the most class-ridden country under the sun', while other writings here ruminate on the merits of cricket, gardening, roast dinners, pubs, tea and seaside postcards. 
 
Edited by Peter Davison with an Introduction by Ben Pimlott

Much of George Orwell's best writing, brought together in this comprehensive collection, is concerned with England, a country that he found both endearing and frustrating. 
 
In the brilliantly perceptive The English People, he lists the national characteristics as 'suspicion of foreigners, sentimentality about animals, hypocrisy, exaggerated class distinctions, and an obsession with sport'. The Road to Wigan Pier, his blistering account of poverty in the north of England, and his essays on class and the horrors of life at private school violently attack what he famously called 'the most class-ridden country under the sun'. Yet other writings here also ruminate on the merits of cricket, gardening, roast dinners, pubs, cups of tea and seaside postcards, showing Orwell's attitude to Englishness in all its lively complexity.

Orwell in Spain

Including Homage to Catalonia 
 
'Spain not only defined Orwell as an individual, it also gave him his first glimpse of totalitarianism' D. J. Taylor, Guardian 
 
George Orwell's experience of the Spanish Civil War had a transformative effect on his life and work. This volume brings together his complete writings on the war, including Homage to Catalonia, his searing memoir of fighting in the conflict and the bitter betrayal that followed. The powerful journalism, essays, letters and pamphlets also collected here show his resolution to tell the truth about what happened amid a 'crop of lies' from both the Communist Party and the British press, while in 'Looking Back on the Spanish War' he remembers the heroism and decency of the ordinary people he encountered. 
 
Edited by Peter Davison with an Introduction by Christopher Hitchens

The volume collects together Orwell's writings on his experience of the Spanish Civil War - the chaos at the Front, the futile young deaths for what became a confused cause, the antique weapons and the disappointment many British Socialists felt on arriving in Spain to help. Orwell in Spain also includes the complete text of the nonfiction masterpiece Homage to Catalonia.

A beautiful b-format hardback edition of the classic masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four; reissued alongside Orwell's essential works Animal Farm (75th anniversary edition) and Down and Out in Paris and London.

The book of the twentieth century...haunts us with an ever-darker relevance

His final masterpiece... Enthralling and indispensable for understanding modern history

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. 
 
The year is 1984, and life in Oceania is ruled by the Party. Under the gaze of Big Brother, Winston Smith yearns for intimacy and love - "thought crimes" that, if uncovered, would mean imprisonment, or death. But Winston is not alone in his defiance, and an illicit affair will draw him into the mysterious Brotherhood and the realities of resistance. 
 
Nineteen Eighty-Four has been described as chilling, absorbing, satirical, momentous, prophetic and terrifying. It is all these things, and more. 
 
The Authoritative Text. With an introduction by Robert Harris. 
 
*The jacket of this stunning hardback edition features period artwork by Elizabeth Friedlander, one of Europe's pre-eminent 20th-century graphic designers. Look out for complementary editions of Orwell's essential works Animal Farm and Down and Out in Paris and London.*

George Orwell

A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Orwell's satirical masterpiece with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and finished with a silk ribbon. 
 
Mr Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, is a lazy drunk. The animals decide to overthrow him in a revolution that will allow them to run the farm, liberating themselves and creating a new life of equality and freedom. But they have underestimated the pigs. Napoleon and Snowball form an elite and take control for themselves, and the tyranny of the farmer is replaced with another kind of control leaving the animals again subject to a ruthless and cruel authority. 
 
Imagined only as Orwell could, this powerful fable is instilled with humour and an underlying urgency that makes this one of the most prescient warnings ever written. 
 
This hardback is part of VINTAGE COLLECTOR’S CLASSICS, a series of luxurious books especially crafted for collectors and fans of beautiful special editions. Sumptuous design meets the highest quality production. Discover timeless classics beautifully bound for every bookshelf.

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