George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 are two of the uncontested classics of 20th-century English literature, the first a satirical fable about the rise, corruption and fall of Soviet Communism, the second a novel about the danger which totalitarianism – of whatever political stripe – holds for freedom, and for all decent human relationships. Orwell’s prose was clear, direct, humane, often witty. His six principles of good writing are still held up as exemplary. Despite this, many good writers can, and do, use adjectives and adverbs, subparagraphs and even cliches with free abandon and to good effect. Orwell’s most important rule is the last: ‘Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.’

His writing could be lighthearted – his essay on the rude postcards sold in English seaside resorts is a delight. But it is always suffused by a concern for the truth, a hatred of cant and a passionate desire that ordinary people should enjoy a better life. This was drawn from his experience in the depths of Paris and London, among the shockingly deprived workers of the industrial north, and in the battle against Franco’s insurgents in Spain where he saw the full extent of Soviet duplicity. All this was vividly reflected in his great works of reportage.

Opinion in the Western democracies at that time was violently divided. Many on the right were prepared to co-operate with Hitler and Mussolini rather than see the triumph of ‘godless Communism’. Many leftist intellectuals believed that only revolution could bring about a better future. Allying themselves with the Soviet Union seemed the only way of stopping fascism in its tracks.

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Rodric Braithwaite was British Ambassador in Moscow during the fall of the Soviet Union. His latest book is Russia: Myths and Realities (Profile, 2022).

Growing up in the Soviet Union, Masha Karp read George Orwell’s novels, and in particular 1984 and Animal Farm and could not understand something. How could someone who never lived in her country, who did not even speak Russian, understand what life under totalitarianism felt like? In this excellent book, she explores how that came about.

Orwell’s interest in Soviet Russia, his opposition to its ruling elite and ideology, did not come about due to his experiences in Spain, as is widely believed. Yes, Orwell was shocked by the behaviour of the Communists and their allies during the Spanish Civil War, in which he fought as a volunteer. But Orwell himself wrote that it was in the mid-1920s, a decade earlier, that he first formed those views. He did so while living in Paris, under the influence of a man he grew to detest, Eugene Lanti. Lanti was an Esperantist and Orwell intensely disliked the language — even parodying it in 1984. But Lanti was also an early leftist critic of the Soviet Union. When Orwell returned to England and lived in Hampstead, he was again strongly influenced by anti-Stalinist leftists, who, as it turned out, were also Esperantists.

Karp goes into great detail not only on the evolution of Orwell’s views, but on the views themselves. She unflinchingly defends Orwell’s involvement in early Cold War anti-Soviet actions, though he died before he could play a leading role in some, like the Congress for Cultural Freedom. And the book ends in an up-to-the-minute account of Russia’s return to a form of totalitarian rule, including an analysis of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

A fantastic book and a great read — with a wonderful cover that is actually, apparently, a Soviet poster from the Stalin era. (You couldn’t make that up.) ( )