1984

1984 is one of the world’s most popular novels. George Orwell’s dystopian tale Nineteen Eighty-Four is set in a society terrorised by a totalitarian ideology propagated by The Party. ‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.’ Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent – even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101. . . Nineteen Eighty-Four is George Orwell’s terrifying vision of a totalitarian future in which everything and everyone is slave to a tyrannical regime. The novel also coined many new words and phrases which regular appear in popular culture, such as ‘Big Brother’, ‘thoughtcrime’, ‘doublethink’ and ‘Newspeak’. ‘More relevant to today that almost any other book that you can think of’ Jo Brand ‘Right up there among my favourite books…I read it again and again’ Margaret Atwood George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) was an accomplished social, political and literary commentator and essayist known for his non-fiction worksThe Road to Wigan Pier andHomage to Catalonia . His most famous novels,Animal Farm and1984 have influenced a generation of twentieth century political satirists and dystopian novelists. This edition of Orwell’s seminal novel is introduced by Professor Peter Davidson.