George Orwell
Perhaps best known for Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell became a chronicler of modern society
Best known for his books Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell earned a reputation as a chronicler and prophet of modern society. Plagued by illness, he exposed poverty and injustice, satirised the powerful, and took up arms against fascism. Today, his name has become an adjective - ‘Orwellian’ - to express fears about totalitarian control.
So, what turned this one-time servant of the British Empire into a critic of poverty and oppression? How did he almost lose his life before he’d written his most enduring works? And did this man of the left become a hero to those on the right?
This is a Short History Of George Orwell.
A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Nathan Waddell, Professor of Twentieth-Century Literature at the University of Birmingham, and author of ‘A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell’.
Written by Edward White | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check by Sean Coleman
