Orwell's Island : George, Jura and 1984

Revered across the globe as an author of compelling novels, journalism and essays that came to define the twentieth century, George Orwell was an�unmatched�political visionary, shining a light on the insidious nature of propaganda. Yet this chronicler of war,�social injustices�and urban poverty spent his later years living�in�a rustic and remote farmhouse, miles from the nearest neighbour.�His rural escape�was on the Hebridean island of Jura - another paradox, given that he harboured�a deep-seated prejudice against Scotland for much of his life. In 1946, Orwell arrived at his isolated home of Barnhill as a grieving widower�living�in the shadow of war and the nuclear threat. It was there he wrote his�masterpiece,�Nineteen Eighty-Four.�Beyond the writing desk, he was transformed: his new life was one of natural beauty and tight-knit community - and he grew to love a corner of the world he had once dismissed. Orwell's Island�casts important new light on a great modern thinker and author.�No previous biography has revealed so much about Orwell's later years or his time on Jura, despite this being where he created Big Brother, the Thought Police and Room 101-creations still in common currency today.�