Orwell's Message 1984 and the Present

<i>The Crystal Spirit</i>, George Woodcock's intellectual biography of George Orwell, won the 1966 Governor General's Award for non-fiction. In this book he turns his attention to <i>1984</i>, the novel which expresses Orwell's fears for the future, and his exhortations against totalitarianism.<br><br>First-hand experience with twentieth-century politics combines with extensive knowledge of history and literature to give Woodcock's writing authority and immediacy. His ten-year friendship with George Orwell adds a personal tone to this work of criticism, biography, political history, and current events.