Book Bearings
Cover of Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty-Four

  • 318 pages · about 5 hours
  • First published 1949
  • 726 editions

Bookshop.org links may earn us a commission. It supports independent bookstores and costs you nothing.

1 About this book

Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often referred to as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by the English novelist George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair). It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime.

Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviours within society. Orwell, himself a democratic socialist, modelled the authoritarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated.

  • Science fiction
  • Classics
  • Relationships
  • Political fiction
  • Dystopian fiction
  • Political
  • Political science
  • Social science

2 What to expect

Orwell's bleak vision of a state that watches everything, following Winston Smith's small rebellion and a forbidden love affair. Steady, grim and full of political ideas, with a harrowing final part.

Good for readers who want: dystopian fiction, political ideas, and a classic.

3 About George Orwell

1903–1950

Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both authoritarian communism and fascism), and support of democratic socialism.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

4 More by George Orwell

5 Similar books

Find a book that fits your moment