The Essays

(Hardback)

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Description

Includes 'The Freedom of the Press', intended as the preface to 'Animal Farm' but undiscovered until 1972. Considered by Noam Chomsky to be Orwell's most important essay. These essays demonstrate the life and work of one of the most individual writers of the last century.

Reviews

"Orwell is the most influential political writer of the twentieth century...He gives us a gritty, personal example of how to engage as a writer in politics." -"New York Review of Books
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"[Orwell] evolved, in his seemingly offhand way, the clearest and most compelling English prose style this century...But of course he was more than just a great writer. We need him today because [of] his passion for the truth." -"The Sunday Times "(London)
"Had Orwell lived to a full term, he might well have gone on to become the greatest modern literary critic in the language. But he lived more than long enough to make writing about politics a branch of the humanities, setting a standard of civilized response to the intractably complex texture of life." -"The New Yorker"
"The real reason we read Orwell is because his own fault-line, his fundamental schism, his hybridity, left him exceptionally sensitive to the fissure-which is everywhere apparent-between what ought to be the casep

Author Bio

George Orwell (19031950) 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.