A Kind Of Compulsion

A Kind Of Compulsion

1903 - 1936

Summary

Volume 10 of The Complete Works of George Orwell

This volume begins with Orwell's letters home from prep school and the stories, poems and contributions to college publications he wrote at Eton, including the play King Charles II which features in A Clergyman's Daughter as Charles I. The sketches that led to Burmese Days are reprinted, along with articles and essays on poverty, censorship and imperialist exploitation first published in Paris 1928-29. In 1930 the first of his reviews were published, while in 1931 his first important essay, 'A Hanging', appeared. Also included is correspondence dealing with publication of Down and Out in Paris and London and the censorship of Burmese Days, A Clergyman's Daughter and Keep the Aspidistra Flying. Orwell's introduction to Down and Out in Paris and London is included in English and the original French version, and the volume concludes with the research material for The Road to Wigan Pier and an analysis of what Orwell was paid for writing the book.

About the author

George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figures in twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegory Animal Farm was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. His novels and non-fiction include Burmese Days, Down and Out in Paris and London, The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia.
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