'His final masterpiece. Enthralling and indispensible for understanding modern history' Timothy Garton Ash'Right up there among my favourite books ... I read it again and again' Margaret Atwood'More relevant to today than almost any other book that you can think of' Jo Brand'One of the most shocking novels of the twentieth century' Margaret Drabble'The book of the twentieth century' Ben Pimlott

Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent - even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101. "Nineteen Eight-Four" is George Orwell's terrifying vision of a totalitarian future in which everything and everyone is slave to a tyrannical regime.

Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent - even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101. "Nineteen Eight-Four" is George Orwell's terrifying vision of a totalitarian future in which everything and everyone is slave to a tyrannical regime.

Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) was born in 1903 in India and was schooled at Eton. From 1922 to 1927 he served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, which provided inspriation for his first novel, Burmese Days. He went on to become a journalist, working for the BBC, Tribune, the Observer and the Manchester Evening News. He is best known for his two novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. He died in 1950.