Introducing this new edition of George Orwell’s critical essays on politics and literature, this volume features both ‘Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels’ and ‘Politics and the English Language’.

First published in 1946, both the essays featured in this volume were written by Orwell on the topics of politics and literature. In ‘Politics vs. Literature’, the author criticises Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726), as a pessimistic assault on humanity. The review challenges Swift’s political stance and refutes his moral perspective, while commenting on the use of satire in his work. ‘Politics and the English Language’ examines the correlation between political conventions and the decline of language.