1984 (ePub)

Eric Arthur Blair, known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic, whose body of work has had a profound impact on modern political thought and the genre of dystopian fiction. Orwell was born on June 25, 1903, in Motihari, India, to a British colonial civil servant. He was educated in England, at Eton College, but eschewed university, instead joining the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. His experiences there would later inform his writings on imperialism and oppression, notably in 'Burmese Days' (1934) and the essay 'Shooting an Elephant' (1936).

Orwell's literary style is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. His time fighting in the Spanish Civil War and witness to the duplicity of political rhetoric was encapsulated in 'Homage to Catalonia' (1938). Orwell's most celebrated work, '1984' (1949), is a prescient novel about a future totalitarian state wherein individual freedom is almost entirely suppressed; it introduced terms such as 'Big Brother', 'Thought Police', and 'Newspeak' into common parlance. The book remains a significant work on the dangers of government overreach and the manipulation of truth. Orwell's writing continues to be relevant and widely studied, providing critical insight into the mechanics of power and the fragile nature of freedoms. He died on January 21, 1950, leaving behind a legacy of work that continues to influence discussions around liberty and authoritarian regimes.