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Book Cover for: George Orwell: English Rebel, Robert Colls

George Orwell: English Rebel

Robert Colls

Hardcover
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An intellectual who did not like intellectuals, a socialist who did not trust the state, a writer of the left who found it easier to forgive writers of the right, a liberal who was against free markets, a Protestant who believed in religion but not in God, a fierce opponent of nationalism who defined Englishness for a generation.

Aside from being one of the greatest political essayists in the English language and author of two of the most famous books in twentieth-century literature, George Orwell was a man of many fascinating contradictions, someone who liked to go against the grain because he believed that was where the truth usually lay.

George Orwell: English Rebel takes us on a journey through the many twists and turns of Orwell's life and thought, from the precocious public school satirist at Eton and the imperial policeman in Burma, through his early years as a rather dour documentary writer, down and out on the streets of Paris and London and on the road to Wigan pier, to his formative experiences as a volunteer soldier in the Spanish Civil War.

Above all, the book skilfully traces Orwell's gradual reconciliation with his country, a journey which began down a coal mine in 1936 to find its exhilarating peaks during the dark days of the Second World War.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • Publish Date: Jan 1st, 2014
  • Pages: 342
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.30in - 6.50in - 1.10in - 1.55lb
  • EAN: 9780199680801
  • Categories: • Literary Figures• Historical• Europe - Great Britain - General

About the Author

Robert Colls is Professor of Cultural History at De Montfort University, Leicester. He was born in South Shields and educated at South Shields Grammar Technical School and the universities of Sussex and York. He has held fellowships at the universities of Oxford, Yale, and Dortmund, and with the Leverhulme Trust. He is author of the acclaimed Identity of England.

Praise for this book


"Colls has changed our view of Orwell's life and work, and offered a fresh perspective on a pivotal period in English intellectual and political history." --John Gray, author of Straw Dogs



"There have been many books written about George Orwell but this is surely among the best. Rob Colls has taken on the man's Englishness, his personality, warts and all, and the elusive notion that he was a rebel in his own land. It's full of zesty prose, fine insights, and a freshness of interpretation which made it a pleasure to read. It's a major achievement and a major work on George Orwell." --Melvyn Bragg


"Colls has changed our view of Orwell's life and work, and offered a fresh perspective on a pivotal period in English intellectual and political history." --John Gray, author of Straw Dogs


"A judicious and all-too-rare example of an absorbing intellectual biography undergirded by scrupulous literary scholarship." --John Rodden, editor of The Cambridge Companion to George Orwell



"[A] lucid work of intellectual biography... Colls's engaging style and frequent bursts of astringent wit make for lively reading suitable for any Orwell enthusiast." --Publishers Weekly


"A compact intellectual biography with much political and social content... There are useful critiques of Orwell's early "angry" novels, his gradual appreciation of the working class, and the political contradictions that he never fully resolved... General readers will benefit from Colls's deft analysis of Orwell's writings and his attempt to pin down the author's politics." --Library Journal


"There have been many books written about George Orwell but this is surely among the best. Rob Colls has taken on the man's Englishness, his personality, warts and all, and the elusive notion that he was a rebel in his own land. It's full of zesty prose, fine insights, and a freshness of interpretation which made it a pleasure to read. It's a major achievement and a major work on George Orwell." --Melvyn Bragg


"Colls has changed our view of Orwell's life and work, and offered a fresh perspective on a pivotal period in English intellectual and political history." --John Gray, author of Straw Dogs


"A judicious and all-too-rare example of an absorbing intellectual biography undergirded by scrupulous literary scholarship." --John Rodden, editor of The Cambridge Companion to George Orwell



"Exceptionally interesting... Arresting and provocative." --DJ Taylor, The Guardian


"Colls is a lovely writer, who is fearless in a way that academics too often are not... Full of learning and insight." --New Statesman


"[A] lucid work of intellectual biography... Colls's engaging style and frequent bursts of astringent wit make for lively reading suitable for any Orwell enthusiast." --Publishers Weekly


"A compact intellectual biography with much political and social content... There are useful critiques of Orwell's early "angry" novels, his gradual appreciation of the working class, and the political contradictions that he never fully resolved... General readers will benefit from Colls's deft analysis of Orwell's writings and his attempt to pin down the author's politics." --Library Journal


"There have been many books written about George Orwell but this is surely among the best. Rob Colls has taken on the man's Englishness, his personality, warts and all, and the elusive notion that he was a rebel in his own land. It's full of zesty prose, fine insights, and a freshness of interpretation which made it a pleasure to read. It's a major achievement and a major work on George Orwell." --Melvyn Bragg


"Colls has changed our view of Orwell's life and work, and offered a fresh perspective on a pivotal period in English intellectual and political history." --John Gray, author of Straw Dogs


"A judicious and all-too-rare example of an absorbing intellectual biography undergirded by scrupulous literary scholarship." --John Rodden, editor of The Cambridge Companion to George Orwell