George Orwell in "Tribune" (Hardcover)

George Orwell has long been one of the most popular (and most studied) authors in the English language. His most important and lasting newspaper journalism appeared in the weekly "Tribune" during the 1940s. A reviewer from 1940, he became literary editor in 1943, when he wrote 59 pieces under the rubric 'As I Please' on a diverse range of topics. After a spell on the Observer, he returned to "Tribune" as a major contributor, writing weekly opinion pieces for 1945-46 and a further 21 'As I Please' columns in 1946-47. Orwell's time writing for "Tribune" was one of particular significance for him, perhaps the happiest period of his life. Dispirited by working for the BBC as a propagandist, "Tribune" offered a welcome respite, at a time when Aneurin Bevan was editor. While he was literary editor, Orwell was working on Animal Farm, eventually published in 1945. He finally left "Tribune" through illness, dying in January 1950. Essentially a political writer, Orwell's output at "Tribune" was wide ranging and eclectic and his plain, lucid style was highly effective. All his weekly journalism showed an idiosyncratic freedom of ideas, often combined with a previously unsuspected humour. This collection, never before assembled in one volume, provides an invaluable insight into the writings of, in the words of Bernard Crick, perhaps Orwell's best biographer, 'the Doctor Johnson of the Left'.