{"product_id":"smothered-under-journalism","title":"Smothered Under Journalism","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVolume 18 of \u003ci\u003eThe Complete Works of George Orwell\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJournalism took a heavy toll on Orwell in the first months of 1946. Despite this unremitting pressure, he produced a major sequence of articles on 'The Intellectual Revolt'. He wrote one of his finest short essays, 'Some Thoughts on the Common Toad'. He reviewed Zamyatin's \u003ci\u003eWe\u003c\/i\u003e, wrote two radio plays for the BBC, \u003ci\u003eThe Voyage of the Beagle,\u003c\/i\u003e and a version of 'Red Riding Hood' for Children's Hour, and a pamphlet for the British Council, \u003ci\u003eBritish Cookery\u003c\/i\u003e; these three are printed here for the first time. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe complex history of 'How the Poor Die' is unravelled, as is the problem posed by his passports giving his date of birth incorrectly, something that would prove significant in the writing of \u003ci\u003eNineteen Eighty-Four\u003c\/i\u003e. Orwell renewed contact with Yvonne Davet; he corresponded with Ihor Szewczenko; he tried to get Victor Serge's memoirs published in English and, with Arthur Koestler, to expose Soviet responsibility for the massacre of the Poles by arranging for a translation of Joseph Czapski's \u003ci\u003eSouvenirs de Starobielsk\u003c\/i\u003e to be published. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDespite all this, Orwell did get away to Jura with his son, Richard. He was able to relax and even fish, as his Domestic Diary (published for the first time) shows; and he wrote fifty pages of \u003ci\u003eNineteen Eighty-Four\u003c\/i\u003e. This volume includes Orwell's telling letter to Dwight Macdonald on the necessity for people to rid themselves of leaders of a violent revolution before they became entrenched (5 December 1946). This was what the animals of \u003ci\u003eAnimal Farm\u003c\/i\u003e had failed to do.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54221744963928,"sku":"9780436205569","price":38.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780436205569_b0b9794d-ad11-4e6a-aec4-791f5205bd5a.jpg?v=1764648045","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/smothered-under-journalism","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}