George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Politics and the English Language, the second in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell takes aim at the language used in politics, which, he says, ‘is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind’. In an age where the language used in politics is constantly under the microscope, Orwell’s Politics and the English Language is just as relevant today, and gives the reader a vital understanding of the tactics at play. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times

Orwell’s "Politics and the English Language" in the Age of Pseudocracy visits the essay as if for the first time, clearing away lore about the essay and responding to the prose itself. It shows how many of Orwell’s rules and admonitions are far less useful than they are famed to be, but it also shows how some of them can be refurbished for our age, and how his major claim—that politics corrupts language, which then corrupts political discourse further, and so on indefinitely—can best be re-deployed today. "Politics and the English Language" has encouraged generations of writers and readers and teachers and students to take great care, to be skeptical and clear-sighted. The essay itself requires a fresh, clear, skeptical analysis so that it can, with reapplication, reclaim its status as a touchstone in our era of the rule of falsehood: the age of "pseudocracy."

Drawing on a wide range of Orwell's writing Rai charts his progression from rebellion through reconciliation to despair.

This study examines how George Orwell's legacy as a writer developed, and the importance of his work both during and after his lifetime. John Rodden seeks to bring Orwell's work into proper focus while providing insight into the phenomenon of literary fame.

Book 1: Explore the nuances of language and politics with “Politics and the English Language by George Orwell.” In this thought-provoking essay, Orwell dissects the power dynamics inherent in language, exposing the manipulation of words for political purposes. A timeless exploration of the impact of language on thought and the importance of clarity in communication. Book 2: Witness the moral complexities of colonialism in “Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell.” Orwell recounts his experiences as a colonial police officer in Burma, grappling with the internal conflict between personal ethics and imperial obligations. This poignant essay delves into the themes of power, conformity, and the consequences of wielding authority in a foreign land. Book 3: Confront the grim realities of capital punishment in “A Hanging by George Orwell.” Orwell provides a vivid and visceral account of an execution in a Burmese prison, prompting readers to reflect on the dehumanizing nature of the act. This powerful essay raises profound questions about morality, justice, and the human capacity for empathy. Delve into the incisive essays of George Orwell, where each piece offers a unique perspective on the complexities of language, power, and morality. From the critical examination of political discourse in "Politics and the English Language" to the moral dilemmas presented in "Shooting an Elephant" and "A Hanging," Orwell's collection challenges readers to engage with the social and ethical dimensions of the human experience.

In Civility, Nonviolent Resistance, and the New Struggle for Social Justice, contributors expose the roots of injustice and violence, and propose civil, nonviolent ways of challenging them.

From post-truth politics to “no-platforming” on university campuses, the English language has been both a potent weapon and a crucial battlefield for our divided politics. In this important and wide-ranging intervention, Thomas Docherty explores the politics of the English language, its implication in the dynamics of political power and the spaces it offers for dissent and resistance. From the authorised English of the King James Bible to the colonial project of University English Studies, this book develops a powerful history for contemporary debates about propaganda, free speech and truth-telling in our politics. Taking examples from the US, UK and beyond - from debates about the Second Amendment and free-speech on campus, to the Iraq War and the Grenfell Tower fire - this book is a powerful and polemical return to Orwell's observation that a degraded political language is intimately connected to an equally degraded political culture.

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This is the first book to focus primarily on George Orwell's ideas about free speech and related matters – freedom of the press, the writer's freedom of expression, honesty and truthfulness – and, in particular, the ways in which they are linked to his political vision of socialism. Orwell is today claimed by the Left and Right, by neo-conservatives and neo-socialists. How is that possible? Part of the answer, as Glenn Burgess reveals, is that Orwell was an odd sort of socialist. The development of Orwell's socialism was, from the start, conditioned by his individualist and liberal commitments. The hopes he attached to socialism were for a fairer, more equal world that would permit human freedom and individuality to flourish, completing, not destroying, the work of liberalism. Freedom of thought was a central part of this, and its defence and use were essential parts of the struggle to ensure that socialism developed in a liberal, humane form that did not follow the totalitarian path of Soviet communism. Written in celebration of Orwell's dictum, 'We hold that the most perverse human being is more interesting than the most orthodox gramophone record,' George Orwell's Perverse Humanity is a portrait of Orwell that captures these themes and provides a new understanding of him as a political thinker and activist. Based on archival research and new materials that affirm his work as an activist for freedom, it also uncovers a socialist ideology that has been obscured in just the way that the author feared it would be – associated in many people's minds with totalitarian unfreedom.