Description
Book SynopsisConsiders George Orwell's writing about the East, and the presence of the East in his writing and argues that in thinking of Orwell as an 'Anglo-Indian writer', not just in upbringing and experience, but in many of his views, perceptions, and reactions, a different Orwell emerges.
Trade ReviewKerr's insights on Orwell and Rudyard Kipling are particularly perceptive. No other writer was more important to Orwell: his whole life "was a conversation, or quarrel, with Kipling", quoting him frequently throughout his writings. While it is tempting to see the two writers as opposites, Kerr is keen to identify their similarities: "Both of them were patriots though highly critical of their fellow-countrymen and frequently of their government. Both were public intellectuals who used their writing to raise political consciousness. Both loved animals and wrote books about them and both had a strong feeling for the English countryside". * Richard Lance Keeble, English Studies *
eminently readable, and a fascinating new look at Orwell's work * , Shiny New Books *
Thoughtful and methodical, Orwell and Empire is a good guide to [Orwell's] complex and not always consistent imperial attitudes. * Professor Krishan Kumar, The Times Literary Supplement *
[T]his is among the most enjoyable books on the subject of Orwell that I have discovered in a long time, and without doubt the finest work on Orwell's connection to empire and the east that it has been my privilege to read. * Ron Bateman, The Orwell Society *
Table of Contents1: Introduction: Anglo-India 2: Animals 3: Environment: Burmese Days 4: Class 5: Empire 6: Geography 7: Women 8: Race 9: Police 10: The Law 11: Literature Notes Bibliography