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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
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(1949)
George *Orwell's nightmare fable of a ruthless totalitarian regime, set in a near future – 1984 was probably chosen for its numerical link with the year in which Orwell was completing the book, 1948. The society depicted is only a little more horrifying (because more sophisticated in its techniques) than the gruesome Fascist and Communist dictatorships of the mid-20C. In the book Orwell coined many terms which have become current: 'doublethink' for the ability to hold contradictory beliefs, required of all party members; 'Newspeak' for the language created by the party to help it conceal truth; and Big Brother, the possibly non-existent party leader whose image is everywhere, with the slogan 'Big Brother is watching you'.
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The story takes place in a Britain forming part of a superstate, Oceania, which is always fighting Eurasia or Eastasia in ever-shifting combinations of two against one. The central character is Winston Smith, a minor party member, who transgresses by having a warmly human love affair with Julia. The resulting thought-crimes have to be eradicated, but Winston's interrogator, O'Brien, only succeeds in breaking his spirit after he has submitted him to Room 101. This is where each person is confronted by his or her ultimate dread. In Winston's case it is rats. When a cage of these creatures is about to be strapped to his face he finally betrays Julia, saying let it happen to her, not me. She, he later discovers, has similarly betrayed him. When they meet again they are in no danger, for they no longer love each other. They love Big Brother.
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