EricArthurBlair(25June1903-21January1950)knownbyhispennameGeorgeOrwell,wasanEnglishnovelistandjournalist.Hisworkismarkedbyclarity,intelligenceandwit,awarenessofsocialinjustice,oppositiontototalitarianism,andcommitmenttodemocraticsocialism.Consideredperhapsthe20thcentury'sbestchroniclerofEnglishculture,Orwellwroteliterarycriticism,poetry,fictionandpolemicaljournalism.
HeisbestknownforthedystopiannovelNineteenEighty-Four(1949)andtheallegoricalnovellaAnimalFarm(1945),whichtogetherhavesoldmorecopiesthananytwobooksbyanyother20th-centuryauthor.HisbookHomagetoCatalonia(1938),anaccountofhisexperiencesintheSpanishCivilWar,iswidelyacclaimed,asarehisnumerousessaysonpolitics,literature,languageandculture.In2008,TheTimesrankedhimsecondonalistof"The50greatestBritishwriterssince1945".Orwell'sworkcontinuestoinfluencepopularandpoliticalculture,andthetermOrwellian-descriptiveoftotalitarianorauthoritariansocialpracticeshasenteredthelanguagetogetherwithseveralofhisneologisms,includingColdWar,BigBrother,thoughtpolice,doublethink,andthoughtcrime.