GEORGE ORWELL - Essays

Sep 18, 2026

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Collection of George Orwell’s essays, introduced by Bernard Crick, covering writing, politics, culture, and literature through a series of major and shorter works. The contents include topics such as why Orwell writes, experiences shaping his views, reflections on English language and nationalism, critiques of publishing and reading habits, and commentary on writers and political life. It also provides biographical context for Orwell, tracing his early life, journalism, war service, and literary legacy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages402

Reading Time10 h 19 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction by Bernard Crick

Why I Write

The Spike

A Hanging

Shooting an Elephant

Bookshop Memories

Marrakech

Charles Dickens

Boys ’ Weeklies

Inside the Whale

My Country Right or Left

The Lion and the Unicorn

Wells, Hitler and the World State

The Art of Donald McGill

Rudyard Kipling

Looking Back on the Spanish War

W. B. Yeats

Poetry and the Microphone

In Defence of English Cooking

Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali

Raffles and Miss Blandish

Arthur Koestler

Antisemitism in Britain

In Defence of P. G. Wodehouse

Notes on Nationalism

Good Bad Books

The Sporting Spirit

Nonsense Poetry

The Prevention of Literature

Books v. Cigarettes

Decline of the English Murder

Politics and the English Language

Some Thoughts on the Common Toad

A Good Word for the Vicar of Bray

Confessions of a Book Reviewer

Politics vs Literature: An Examination of Gulliver s’ Travels

How the Poor Die

Riding Down from Bangor

Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool

Such, Such Were the Joys

Writers and Leviathan

Reflections on Gandhi

GEORGE ORWELL Essays PENGUIN BOOKS IN ASSOCIATION WITH Martin Secker & Warburg Contents Introduction by Bernard Crick 1. Why I Write 2. The Spike 3. A Hanging 4. Shooting an Elephant 5. Bookshop Memories 6. Marrakech 7. Charles Dickens 8. Boys ’ Weeklies 9. Inside the Whale 10. My Country Right or Left 11. The Lion and the Unicorn 12. Wells, Hitler and the World State 13. The Art of Donald McGill 14. Rudyard Kipling 15. Looking Back on the Spanish War 16. W. B. Yeats 17. Poetry and the Microphone 18. In Defence of English Cooking 19. Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali 20. Raffles and Miss Blandish 21. Arthur Koestler 22. Antisemitism in Britain 23. In Defence of P. G. Wodehouse 24. Notes on Nationalism 25. Good Bad Books 26. The Sporting Spirit 27. Nonsense Poetry 28. The Prevention of Literature 29. Books v. Cigarettes 30. Decline of the English Murder 31. Politics and the English Language 32. Some Thoughts on the Common Toad 33. A Good Word for the Vicar of Bray 34. Confessions of a Book Reviewer 35. Politics vs Literature: An Examination of Gulliver s’ Travels 36. How the Poor Die 37. Riding Down from Bangor 38. Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool 39. Such, Such Were the Joys 40. Writers and Leviathan 41. Reflections on Gandhi Bibliographical Note PENGUIN BOOKS GEORGE ORWELL: ESSAYS Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) was born in 1903 in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. The family moved to England in 1907 and in 1917 Orwell entered Eton, where he contributed regularly to the various college magazines. From 1922 to 1927 he served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, an experience that inspired his first novel, Burmese Days (1934) . Several years of poverty followed. He lived in Paris for two years before returning to England, where he worked successively as a private tutor, schoolteacher and bookshop assistant, and contributed reviews and articles to a number of periodicals. Down and Out in Paris and London was published in 1933. In 1936 he was commissioned by Victor Gollancz to visit areas of mass unemployment in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and The Road to Wigan Pier (1937) is a powerful description of the poverty he saw there. At the end of 1936 Orwell went to Spain to fight for the Republicans and was wounded. Homage to Catalonia is his account of the civil war. He was admitted to a sanatorium in 1938 and from then on was never fully fit. He spent six months in Morocco and there wrote Coming Upfor Air. During the Second World War he served in the Home Guard and worked for the BBC Eastern Service from 1941 to 1943. As literary editor of Tribune he contributed a regular page of political and literary commentary, and he also wrote for the Observer and later for me Manchester Evening News. His unique political allegory, Animal Farm, was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. George Orwell died in London in January 1950. A few days before, Desmond MacCarthy had sent him a message of greeting in which he wrote: ‘You have made an indelible mark on English literature …you are among the few memorable writers of your generation.’ Bernard Crick is Emeritus Professor of Birkbeck, the University of London’s college for mature parttime students. He took early retirement in 1984 to live in Edinburgh and interest himself in ‘British Isles ’ questions. Born in 1929, he was educated at University College London, the London School of Economics and Harvard. He lived for four years in North America before teaching at the LSE and then Sheffield University. His books include The American Science ofPolitics; the widely translated In Defence ofPolitics (Penguin 1964; revised edition, 1993); George Orwell: ALife, which was the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year for 1980; and Political Thoughts and Polemics. Joint editor of the Political Quarterly

FAQs

Who provides the introduction and what does it frame?

Bernard Crick writes the introduction, framing Orwell’s longer major essays and selected shorter works and arguing for their lasting claim to greatness.

What kinds of subjects do the essays cover?

They address writing and essay craft, political commentary, English language and nationalism, literary figures, and critiques of books, reading, and publishing culture.

How is Orwell’s background used in the edition?

The edition includes biographical material describing Orwell’s early life, experiences in India and Burma, later work and journalism, wartime service, and how these shaped his major writings.

Sep 18, 2026

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