Orwell

A Man Of Our Time

Richard Bradford (University of Ulster, UK)

$39.99

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Bloomsbury
15 April 2020

Biography; Biography: historical, political & military; Biography: literary; Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers; Comparative politics

Orwell: A Man of Our Time offers a vivid portrait of the man behind the writings, and places him and his work at the centre of the current political landscape.

One of the most enduringly popular and controversial writers of the twentieth century, George Orwell’s work is as relevant today as it was in his own lifetime. Possibly, in the age of Brexit, Trump, and populism, even more so. ‘Doublethink’ features in Nineteen Eighty-Four and it is the forerunner to ‘Fake News’. He foresaw the creation of the EU and more significantly he predicted that post-Imperial xenophobia would cause Britain to leave it. His struggle with his own antisemitism could serve as a lesson to today’s Labour Party and while the Soviet Union is gone, China has taken its place as a totalitarian superpower.

Aside from his importance as a political theorist and novelist, Orwell’s life is fascinating in its own right. Caught between uncertainty and his family’s upper middle-class complacency, Orwell grew to despise the class system that spawned him despite finding himself unable to fully detach himself from it. His life thereafter mirrored the history of his country; like many from his background he devoted himself to socialism as a salve to his conscience. In truth he reserved as much suspicion and distaste for the ‘proles’ as he did pity. He died at the point when Britain’s status as an Imperial and world power had waned but his work remains both prescient and significant.

By: Richard Bradford (University of Ulster UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
Weight: 632g
ISBN: 9781448217687
ISBN 10: 1448217687
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 15 April 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Richard Bradford is Research Professor in English at Ulster University and Visiting Professor at the University of Avignon. He has published over 25 acclaimed books, including a biography of Philip Larkin, which was an Independent Book of the Year, the authorised biography of Alan Sillitoe, a life of Kingsley Amis and a biography of Kingsley's son, Martin. He has been on the longlist for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, has written for The Spectator and The Sunday Times and has been interviewed on his work for various BBC Radio Arts Programmes, as well as appearing on the Channel 4 Series `Writers in their Own Words', talking mainly on Martin Amis and the post-1960s generation of British novelists. The BBC TV programme `Through the Lens of Larkin', in which he appeared, was inspired by his The Importance of Elsewhere. Philip Larkin's Photographs. His biography of Ernest Hemingway The Man Who Wasn't There was published in October 2018 by I.B. Tauris

Reviews for Orwell: A Man Of Our Time

Fascinating book. * The Times * A brilliant biography of Orwell, reminding us that his work is as relevant as ever. * Irish Independent * Excellent. ***** * The Telegraph * Bradford gives a compelling analysis ... pleasing idiosyncrasy, odd surprises and well-landed punches. * The Oldie *