Arrival of the Angles
It is thought that the Angles originated in Poland but had moved to central Denmark by the 4th century. They then expanded […]
Read MoreAuthor: Purple Brolly
My aim is to give a flavour of these precious islands we call 'the UK'. All research is based on a minimum of two public domain sources, usually more.
The Reformation
Until 1526, Catholicism held sway in Britain but the combination of esoteric rituals, opulence and Latin pronouncements, though wondrous, was unintelligible to […]
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The Scottish Parliament
The kingdom of Scotland had its own government institution for more than four centuries prior to 1707, when it became part of […]
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Cowes Week
Cowes Week takes place every year at the beginning of August and is based at the small port of Cowes on the […]
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Big Ben
‘Big Ben’ is the nickname given to the hour bell in the Elizabeth Tower at the Houses of Parliament in London. The […]
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Talk Like A Pirate Day
There have been many gimmicky celebratory days concocted in recent times, but the International Talk Like A Pirate Day has a peculiarly […]
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Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) was an award-winning star of silent films in his trademark character, ‘the tramp’. He drew on his own […]
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Fred Hoyle, cosmologist
Professor Sir Fred Hoyle, FRS (1915-2001) was born in Yorkshire and became a mathematician, astronomer and cosmologist. He frequently broke ranks with […]
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Marie Stopes & family planning
If Marie Stopes (1880-1958) were alive today, one wonders what she would think of the hundreds of abortion clinics across the world […]
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King Edward VIII’s abdication
King Edward VIII (1894-1972) is the only British monarch to have abdicated. He ascended the throne in January 1936, but eleven months […]
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George Orwell
George Orwell was the pen-name of Eric Blair (1903-50), who died of tuberculosis shortly after the publication of his 1949 anti-communist novel, […]
Read MoreGeorge Orwell was the pen-name of Eric Blair (1903-50), who died of tuberculosis shortly after the publication of his 1949 anti-communist novel, ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, describing an extreme society with ‘thought-police’, ‘Big Brother’ and no privacy or free will. He also wrote ‘Animal Farm’, published in 1945, which was another dark exposé of man’s inhumanity and the injustice of the class system.
Image: The National Archives UK at Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
Prior to this, Orwell had purposely placed himself in conditions of poverty and physical hardship, even joining the republican militia in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 until he was shot in the neck. Coming from a middle-class family, his drive for social and political reform put him out of sync with those around him. Once he started writing full-time in 1933 he decided to use a pen-name because he did not want to cause embarrassment to his family.
Always an outsider in his lifetime, George Orwell has since been at the centre of any debate on the future of our society, with the description ‘Orwellian’ being one that crops up more and more in modern times.
(Image: pexels.com)
“We shall fight on the beaches”
In 1940 the war with Germany was not going well. Belgium, The Netherlands and France had all been overrun and by 26th […]
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