Homage to Catalonia

(Hardback)

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Homage to Catalonia is a bracing personal account of George Orwell's time fighting for the Republican army in the Spanish Civil War. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is introduced by Helen Graham, a leading historian on the Spanish Civil War. George Orwell came to Spain in 1936 as a journalist, intending to report on the civil war. But on arrival in Barcelona he witnessed a revolution against the Spanish bourgeois in full swing - with the working class in the saddle - and almost immediately he joined the Republican militia to fight for this worthy cause. In Homage to Catalonia Orwell retells his experience of the Spanish Civil War with brutal honesty, from the painful stasis of the front line to the mania of street fighting, and from the tension of being in hiding to the relief of coming home to England. A unique first-hand account of war, it is also critical in our understanding of Orwell's political passions.

Reviews

Homage to Catalonia belongs in any list of important books on the Spanish civil war -- Paul Preston * Observer *
[Homage to Catalonia] has become, in the years and for generations that have followed, a landmark text of the 20th century and an indispensable read . . . Few stories of conflict manage to stir together such a moving admixture of horror, grace, brutality and, yes, even humor. * NPR *
With his commitment to honesty in the face of lies and treachery; with his moral and intellectual integrity in the face of cynicism and euphemism; and with his willingness to face down bullies of all stripes, Orwell bequeaths to us in his writings the tools we could well do with ourselves. * Mancunian *
Orwell's report is as exciting as it is meditative. With his quiet exactitude the midnight skirmishes, the political issues, and the utter futility of war come clearly into focus. * Kirkus Reviews *

Author Bio

Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) was born in 1903 in India, where his father was a civil servant. After studying at Eton, he served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma for several years, and this inspired his first novel, Burmese Days. After two years in Paris, he returned to England to work as a teacher and then in a bookshop. In 1936 he travelled to Spain to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, where he was badly wounded. During the Second World War he worked for the BBC. A prolific journalist and essayist, Orwell wrote some of the most influential books in English literature, including the dystopian Nineteen Eighty-Four and his political allegory Animal Farm. He died from tuberculosis in 1950.