Three of George Orwell's greatest non-fiction works in one collectible edition
Down and Out in Paris and London
The first full-length work by George Orwell, published in 1933, Down and Out reflects his preoccupation with social inequality and lives of the destitute, ideas that would go on to shape his later works and novels. Targeted at the middle and upper class members of society-those who were more likely to be well educated-this memoir exposes the poverty existing in two prosperous cities: Paris and London. In the first half, Orwell describes his experience of living in near-destitution in Paris and working as a dishwasher in restaurant kitchens. The second part is a travelogue of life as a tramp in and around London, with descriptions of the types of hostel accommodation available and some of the characters to be found living on the margins.
Before being published by Gollancz in 1933, the manuscript faced numerous rejections, including by TS Eliot who was then an editor at Faber.
The Road to Wigan Pier
This bold and unforgettable account documents Orwell's sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England before World War II. It then blends into a piercing essay on his upbringing and the development of his political conscience, questioning British attitudes towards socialism and the middle-class oblivion of the suffering of the masses. Orwell goes on to not only claim that he himself is in favour of socialism, but also point out reasons why many people who would benefit from socialism - and should logically support it - are in practice likely to be strong opponents.
Homage to CataloniaIn 1936 George Orwell travelled to Spain to report on the Civil War and instead joined the fight against the Fascists. Homage to Catalonia personal account of his experiences and observations fighting for the POUM militia of the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War. The war was one of the defining events of his political outlook and a significant part of what led him to write in 1946, "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for Democratic Socialism, as I understand it."
