An account of George Orwell's observations of working-class life in the bleak industrial heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire in the 1930s. It presents his descriptions of social injustice, cramped
Features essays, reviews and articles that illuminate the life and work of one of the most individual writers of this century - a man who created a unique literary manner from the process of thinking
Set in the days of the Empire, with the British ruling in Burma, this book describes both indigenous corruption and Imperial bigotry, when 'after all, natives were natives - interesting, no doubt, but
Offers an account of the brutal conditions of the Spanish Civil War. The author brings to bear all the force of his humanity, passion and clarity, describing with bitter intensity the bright hopes and
"Politics and the English Language" is widely considered Orwell's most important essay on style. Style, for Orwell, was never simply a question of aesthetics; it was always inextricably linked to poli
'Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past' Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the pa
When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr Jones and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. But gradually a cunnin
Tom Birkin, a damaged survivor of World War One, is spending the summer uncovering a huge medieval wall-painting in the village church of Oxgodby. Joined by another veteran, employed to look for a gra
Gordon Comstock loathes dull, middle-class respectability and worship of money. He gives up a good job to work part-time in a bookshop, giving him more time to write. But he slides instead into a self
'I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one . . . Humans are caught-in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kind
Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most promi
'The days and the weeks dragged on, and the months dragged on. . . . The people of the conquered country settled in a slow, silent, waiting revenge. The men who had been traitors, who had helped the i
'In the town they tell the story of the great pearl - how it was found and how it was lost agin. They tell of Kino, the fisherman, and of his wife, Juana, and of the baby, Coyotito. And because the st
Drifters in search of work, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie, have nothing in the world except each other - and a dream. A dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventuall
'Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. If Casy knowed, why, I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an' - I'll b
Tells the story of an orphan who beguiles the world with her astonishing visions, triumphing over the worst of adversity and bringing light to a dark place.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is Mohsin Hamid's thrillingly provocative international bestseller, available as a Penguin Essential for the first time. Shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2007 Now a
Any Human Heart is William's Boyd's classic, bestselling novel, now available as a Penguin Essential for the first time. Every life is both ordinary and extraordinary, but Logan Mountstuart's - lived
'An exciting writer, sharp and shocking as the knives her characters wield' Sunday TimesLike her namesake Jack Kerouac, J.K. is always on the road, travelling Europe with her typewriter in a pillowcas
Twilight is the haunting novel by Nobel Peace prize-winning author Elie Wiesel, available as a Penguin Essential for the first time. Raphael Lipkin hears voices and talks to ghosts. Spending the summe
Fast, thrilling, compulsively addictive - The Circle is Dave Eggers's timely novel about our obsession with the internet, now available as a Penguin Essential for the first time. When Mae is hired to
The Help is the phenomenal international bestseller (that inspired the Oscar nominated film) by Kathryn Stockett, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time Enter a vanished and unjust world:
Penelope Lively's Booker Prize winning classic, Moon Tiger is a haunting story of loss and desire, published here as a Penguin Essential for the first time. Claudia Hampton - beautiful, famous, indepe
To the just-fashionable French Riviera come Dick and Nicole Diver - handsome, rich, and enormous fun. Their dinners are legend, their atmosphere magnetic, their intelligence fine. But something is wro
Alienated from society, Harry Haller is the Steppenwolf, wild, strange and shy. His despair and desire for death draw him into an enchanted, Faust-like underworld. Through a series of shadowy encounte
