'Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'

Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party.

In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.

George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four is perhaps the most pervasively influential book of the twentieth century.

In 1943, there was an urgent need for Animal Farm. The Soviet Union had become Britain’s ally in the war against Nazi Germany, and criticism of Stalin’s brutal regime was either censored or discouraged. In any case, many intellectuals on the left still celebrated the Soviet Union, claiming that the terrors of its show trials, summary executions and secret police were either exaggerated or necessary. But, to Orwell, Stalin was always a “disgusting murderer” and he wanted to remind people of this fact in a powerful and memorable way. But how to do it? A political essay would never reach a wide enough audience; a traditional novel would take too long to write. Orwell hit on the inspired idea of combining the moralism of the traditional ‘beast fable’ with the satire of Gulliver’s Travels.

A group of farmyard animals, led by the pigs, overthrow their human masters. Their revolution is inspired by high ideals: the farm will be run in the interests of its animals with no more slaughtering, plenty of food for all and comfort in retirement. But when Napoleon the pig takes command, he quickly corrupts their principles, creating a new tyranny worse than the old.

Orwell wrote Animal Farm in the middle of the Second World War, but at first no publishers wanted to touch it. It was finally published in August 1945, once the war was over. This little book quickly became a seminal text in the emerging ‘cold war’ (a phrase that Orwell himself coined). It also became a site of that conflict itself, suffering various attempts to subvert or change its meaning. Today, Animal Farm remains a powerful fable about the nature of tyranny and corruption which applies for all ages.

Our edition also includes the following essays:

• Shooting an Elephant;
• Charles Dickens;
• Inside the Whale;
• The Frontiers of Art and Propaganda;
• Literature and Totalitarianism;
• Fascism and Democracy;
• Patriots and Revolutionaries;
• Catastrophic Gradualism;
• Some Thoughts on the Common Toad;
• Why I Write;
• Writers and Leviathan

Orwell's personal account of his experiences and observations in the Spanish Civil War.

An experimental novel by George Orwell, featuring a chapter written entirely in dramatic form.

Orwell's first work -- a sensitive and insightful description of the life of the working poor in Paris and the homeless in London. It is still very relevant today, and while aimed at the casual reader, it is of interest to the scholar and activist.

A non-fiction classic from Orwell. Part I documents his sociological investigations of the living conditions amongst the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England in the 1930s. Part II covers his middle-class upbringing, the development of his political conscience, and a discussion of British attitudes towards socialism.

As literary political fiction, 1984 is considered a classic novel of the social science fiction subgenre. Since its publication in 1949, many of its terms and concepts, such as Big Brother, doublethink, thoughtcrime, Newspeak, and Memory hole, have become contemporary vernacular. In addition, the novel popularised the adjective Orwellian, which refers to lies, surveillance, and manipulation of the past in the service of a totalitarian agenda. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked 1984 13th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. This edition includes footnotes, Appendix, and a new introduction.

Winston Smith rewrites history. It’s his job. Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, he helps the Party, and the omnipresent Big Brother, control the people of Oceania.

Winston knows what a good citizen of Oceania must do: show his devotion for Big Brother and the Party; abstain from all vices; and, most importantly, possess no critical thoughts of their own. The new notebook he’s begun to write in is definitely against the rules – in fact, the Thought Police could arrest him simply for having it. Yet, as Winston begins to write his own history, a seed of rebellion begins to grow in his heart – one that could have devastating consequences.

In George Orwell’s final and most well-known novel, he explores a dystopian future in which a totalitarian government controls the actions, thoughts and even emotions of its citizens, exercising power through control of language and history. Its lasting popularity is testament to Orwell’s powerful prose, and is a passionate political warning for today.

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

The animals at Manor Farm have had enough of Farmer Jones – he’s drunk, reckless and cares little for their welfare. When the boar, Old Major, shares his revolutionary plans, the animals are convinced they can thrive on their own once the despot Jones is overthrown. But as the pigs vie for power, they begin to bear an uncanny resemblance to the tyrants they have overthrown…

George Orwell’s renowned fable became an instant success on publication after the Second World War. The novel has continued to captivate readers of all ages, and has secured Orwell’s position as one of the great writers of the twentieth century.

When the animals get rid of Mr Jones and take over the farm, they are excited by their new freedom. But can they run the farm with tools that are designed for humans? Will they be able to harvest the food that they need for the winter? The farmers decide to band together to win back the farm for Mr Jones. Will the animals be able to fight them off? Can life on Animal Farm be as wonderful as they had all hoped for - or will new dangers threaten their happiness?

Winston Smith lives in a nightmare world where the Thought Police spy on everyone and children are taught to betray their parents. Even the smallest sign of disagreement with the Party results in torture, imprisonment, or death. Big Brother oversees everything - but who is he? Winston tries hard to keep his thoughts and fears to himself. But then he meets Julia, a strong-minded young woman who is willing to run the terrible risk of their being found together. Will kindly Mr Charrington keep their secret? Can Winston and Julia find happiness despite the dangers that threaten them?

George Orwell is a difficult author to summarize. He was a would-be revolutionary who went to Eton, a political writer who abhorred dogma, a socialist who thrived on his image as a loner, and a member of the Imperial Indian Police who chronicled the iniquities of imperialism. Both the books in this volume were published in the 1930s, a "a low, dishonest decade," as his coeval W.H. Auden described it. Orwell's subjects in Down and Out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan Pier are the political and social upheavals of his time. He focusses on the sense of profound injustice, incipient violence, and malign betrayal that were ubiquitous in Europe in the 1930s. Orwell's honesty, courage, and sense of decency are inextricably bound up with the quasi-colloquial style that imbues his work with its extraordinary power. His descriptions of working in the slums of Paris, living the life of a tramp in England, and digging for coal with miners in the North make for a thoughtful, riveting account of the lives of the working poor and of one man's search for the truth. Our edition includes the following essays: Marrakech; How the Poor Die; Antisemitism in Britain; Notes on Nationalism

One of the most celebrated novelists in the English language, George Orwell was also a prolific essay writer and literary reviewer, penning articles on such diverse subjects as the craft of writing, international politics and British cookery, and on such varied authors as Charles Dickens, H.G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw and P.G. Wodehouse.

This volume collects all of Orwell’s major essays, including ‘Shooting an Elephant’, ‘Inside the Whale’, ‘Politics and the English Language’, ‘Why I Write’ and ‘Politics vs Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels’, as well as a generous selection of shorter pieces on a variety of literary and political subjects. As a whole, this collection will provide useful insights into Orwell as a committed intellectual and serve as an indispensable companion to his fiction.

Introduced by Alan Johnson. ‘All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.’ Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges . . . First published in 1945, Animal Farm – the history of a revolution that went wrong – is George Orwell’s brilliant satire on the corrupting influence of power.

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. George Orwell's modern fable on the way power corrupts is as apt as ever in the twenty-first century. Educational edition of this much-loved classic from Longman.