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Orwell The Lost Writings
Drawn from a cache of materials unearthed in the archives of the BBC, this collection features hundreds of essays, dramatic adaptations, and letters written during Orwell's World War II years at the BBC
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1985
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About the author
George Orwell
1,340 books51.3k followersEric Arthur Blair was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both fascism and stalinism), and support of democratic socialism.
Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.
Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 2, 2023
Like much “lost writing,” this volume should have stayed lost.
September 29, 2025
A uniquely written book. It has so many things in it that scare you. The way his mind thought back in the 40’s and somehow, it’s all there happening, now.
As description, yes. The programme it sets forth is nonsense. The people are not going to revolt. They will not look up from their screens long enough to notice what is happening.
The individual is dead, Winston. The Party is immortal. ~O Brian.
As description, yes. The programme it sets forth is nonsense. The people are not going to revolt. They will not look up from their screens long enough to notice what is happening.
The individual is dead, Winston. The Party is immortal. ~O Brian.
December 5, 2011
Some good examples of socialist propaganda, especially his adaptation of Crainquebille. I'm curious to know more about that film. It seems Orwell ditched a key part at the end that might have been inconsistent with his propaganda purpose (the Wikipedia entry finishes with this: a young street boy takes him by the hand to forget about the past and persuades him to make a fresh start).
December 3, 2018
Mostly excerpts from radio scripts and business letters. May as well have remained lost.
December 9, 2019
Great addition to any GOFan.
May 27, 2024
What a great book
October 10, 2013
I am in the recovering stages of an Orwell craze. It is not really a permanent recovery, however, and the only reason why I am stopping right now is that I have read all of my library's books by George Orwell. I think there may be another book or two about Nineteen Eighty-Four written by other authors, but I am only interested in books by Orwell himself or biographies about him. So, until I get a hold of more of Orwell's books, I am on a temporary hiatus.
Now, onto the book itself. It is not a book as Nineteen Eighty-Four or even A Collection of Essays are. Instead, it is a collection of some of Orwell's surviving work from his days working for the BBC Eastern Service's Indian Section. A little over a sixth of the book is taken up by the Introduction, in which the editor explains how Orwell's time in the BBC helped to influence and create his views, leading eventually to the writing of the two novels that he is most remembered for, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Censorship, suppression, and propaganda all helped him to shape the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four, with all of its ministries and government media control. After the Introduction comes Part 1 of the book. This is composed of scripts, short stories, and interviews written and/or adapted by George Orwell for the Indian Section's radio broadcasts. Part 2 of the book is composed of letters, post cards, and telegrams pertaining to the Indian Section's broadcasts, most of them written by Orwell, but a few in response to him, from men such as E.M. Forster and T.S. Eliot. After all of this, the appendixes take up the final twenty pages of the book, talking about government censorship, showing an example of Orwell's personal notes pertaining to his broadcasts, Axis propaganda, and the government's attempt at completely banning certain people from the BBC, such as Kingsley Martin.
My personal thoughts on this book are mixed; I started reading this expecting something along the lines of A Collection of Essays, and I was quickly disappointed. However, the glimpse into news censorship and of Orwell's job was quite interesting, and not something that I had read about in any of his books. And there are certain stories and essays in which Orwell speaks his mind like in his Collection, but there are not that many of these. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I will only recommend this to an extreme George Orwell fan. If you have just read Nineteen Eighty-Four or Animal Farm and are hoping for more casual reading by Orwell, do not get this. If you want something like that, you should probably go for something like A Collection of Essays or Homage to Catalonia.
Now, onto the book itself. It is not a book as Nineteen Eighty-Four or even A Collection of Essays are. Instead, it is a collection of some of Orwell's surviving work from his days working for the BBC Eastern Service's Indian Section. A little over a sixth of the book is taken up by the Introduction, in which the editor explains how Orwell's time in the BBC helped to influence and create his views, leading eventually to the writing of the two novels that he is most remembered for, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Censorship, suppression, and propaganda all helped him to shape the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four, with all of its ministries and government media control. After the Introduction comes Part 1 of the book. This is composed of scripts, short stories, and interviews written and/or adapted by George Orwell for the Indian Section's radio broadcasts. Part 2 of the book is composed of letters, post cards, and telegrams pertaining to the Indian Section's broadcasts, most of them written by Orwell, but a few in response to him, from men such as E.M. Forster and T.S. Eliot. After all of this, the appendixes take up the final twenty pages of the book, talking about government censorship, showing an example of Orwell's personal notes pertaining to his broadcasts, Axis propaganda, and the government's attempt at completely banning certain people from the BBC, such as Kingsley Martin.
My personal thoughts on this book are mixed; I started reading this expecting something along the lines of A Collection of Essays, and I was quickly disappointed. However, the glimpse into news censorship and of Orwell's job was quite interesting, and not something that I had read about in any of his books. And there are certain stories and essays in which Orwell speaks his mind like in his Collection, but there are not that many of these. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I will only recommend this to an extreme George Orwell fan. If you have just read Nineteen Eighty-Four or Animal Farm and are hoping for more casual reading by Orwell, do not get this. If you want something like that, you should probably go for something like A Collection of Essays or Homage to Catalonia.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews