| Contents |
Introduction: discovering Orwell -- "Until they become conscious they will never rebel": Orwell and the working class -- "Why I join the ILP": Orwell and the left in the thirties -- "Giants are vermin": Orwell, fascism and the Holocaust -- "A long series of thermidors": Orwell, pacifism and the myth of the people's war -- "It is astonishing how little change has happened": Orwell, the Labour Party, and the Attlee government -- "Ceaseless espionage": Orwell and the secret states -- "2+2=5": Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four," and the new left -- Conclusion: "capitalism has manifestly no future" - Orwell today. |
| Abstract |
George Orwell was one of the most significant literary figures on the left in the twentieth century. While books such as "Nineteen Eighty-Four," "Animal Farm," and "Homage to Catalonia" are regarded as modern classics, his own politics are less well understood. The author offers a sympathetic yet critical account of Orwell's political thinking and its continued significance. The book details Orwell's attempts to change working-class consciousness, and considers if his attitude towards the working class was romantic, realistic, or patronizing - or all three at different times. The author asks whether Orwell's anti-fascism was eclipsed by his criticism of the Soviet Union, and explores his ambivalent relationship with the Labour Party. The book also examines Orwell's changing views on the Second World War - from opposition to Britain entering the war to his later condemnations of pacifism. Focusing on the enduring interest in Orwell today, this is a unique, nuanced account which demonstrates that Orwell remained a committed socialist up until his death. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 164-182) and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Newsinger, John, 1948- Hope lies in the proles. London : Pluto Press, 2018 9781786801890 |
| Genre/form | History. |
| ISBN | 9780745399287 paperback |
| ISBN | 0745399282 paperback |
| ISBN | 9780745399294 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0745399290 hardcover |
| ISBN | electronic book PDF |
| ISBN | electronic book PDF |
| ISBN | electronic book kindle edition |
| ISBN | electronic book kindle edition |
| ISBN | electronic publication |
| ISBN | electronic publication |
