George Orwell A Life in Letters

George Orwell was a prolific and trenchant correspondent, communicating with luminaries such as Cyril Connolly, T. S. Eliot, Arthur Koestler, Henry Miller, and Stephen Spender, not to mention total strangers. His letters reveal the inspiration for some of his most famous fictional characters and shed new light on a youthful love-whose abrupt cessation would haunt him for the rest of his life. Readers will encounter Orwell's thoughts on matters both quotidian (poltergeists and the art of playing croquet) and professional (including the difficulty finishing 1984). Particularly illuminating are his historical observations-descriptions of war-shattered Barcelona, pronouncements on bayonets, or the immanent cruelty of chaining German prisoners. Providing an unparalleled, autobiographical perspective, these letters yield unvarnished insights into the mind of a twentieth-century seer. They are an indispensable companion to Orwell's novels and Diaries, which the New York Times said "restore some first-person flesh and blood to what can seem like his disembodied head . . . [and] present a man in full."