Thomas Fensch

Orwell in America Thomas Fensch

George Orwell never came to America; he published five books before fighting in the Spanish Civll War against Franco. Shot in the neck by a sniper, he came within a fraction of an inch of dying on the spot. Returning to England he published Homage to Catalonia, his experiences in Spain; then Animal Farm, the Russian Revolution in fable form, then 1984, his masterpiece, while battling tuberculosis.

1984 was instantly judged a classic and has remained so to this day.

By now, 70 years on, his never-to-be-believed dystopic science fictiion is accepted as fact.

America has gone 'way past all his warnings and, in one recent area, become involved in a horrific national debacle which Orwell -- or his Big Brother -- couldn't have dreamed of.