Overview

Volume 12 of The Complete Works of George Orwell Volume 12 of The Complete Works of George Orwell For the twenty-month period of this volume, there are reproduced 123 book, 38 theatre, and 43 film reviews. Inside the Whale, Orwell's first collection of essays, and The Lion and the Unicorn- Socialism and the English Genius are reprinted here. Later in that year he gave a series of broadcasts on literary criticism, the texts of which are reproduced. Throughout this period Orwell kept a wartime diary; its entries are here printed chronologically with his reviews, essays, and letters and it is here that Orwell makes the first reference to his wish to live on a Hebridean island. It was in 1941 that Orwell began his series of 'London Letters' for Partisan Review. The volume also includes Orwell's lecture notes for instructing members of his Home Guard platoon.

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9780436205408

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Reviews

An epoch-making edition...few books published this year will be as worth reading as any one of them -- Peter Carey * Sunday Times * This edition is a wonder -- Bevis Hillier * Spectator *

TO GO WITH 'A KIND OF COMPULSION' AND 'FACING UNPLEASANT FACTS' first paperback outing for the initial three (of 11) volumes of Orwell's letters, essays, broadcasts, poems, diaries, notebooks, reviews and unfinished works, which together provide an unparalleled insight into the mind and work of one of the 20th century's greatest writers. A Kind of Compulsion opens with Orwell's earliest writings, his letters home from school, written when he was just eight years old; by the time it ends, in 1936, he had already written some of his most important work, including Down and Out in Paris and London and Keep the Aspidistra Flying. The short period covered in Facing Unpleasant Facts saw Orwell fighting in the Spanish Civil War, being plagued by ill health and tried for treason. A Patriot After All includes Orwell's World War II diary, as well as the first of the 'London Letters' written for Partisan Review and his first broadcasts. The texts here have been meticulously edited by leading Orwell scholar Davison, and include invaluable footnotes and annotations. A must for anyone even faintly interested in Orwell and his times. (Kirkus UK)

An epoch-making edition...few books published this year will be as worth reading as any one of them -- Peter Carey Sunday Times This edition is a wonder -- Bevis Hillier Spectator

Author Information

Eric Arthur Blair - better known as George Orwell - was born on 25 June 1903 in Bengal. He was educated at Eton and then served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. He lived in Paris for two years, and then returned to England where he worked as a private tutor, schoolteacher and bookshop assistant. He fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War and was wounded in the throat. During the Second World War he served as Talks Producer for the Indian Service of the BBC and then joined Tribune as its literary editor. He died in London in January 1950.

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