Michael Shelden's triumphant authorised biography of George Orwell restores a sense of drama and passion to Orwell's life, revealing him as a fascinating and heroic character, struggling to achieve his ambitions against a background of great public and private turmoil.

Orwell's life has to rank as one of the most exciting in literary history. An old Etonian and an officer in the Indian Imperial Police, he was also a dishwasher in a Paris hotel, a hop-picker in Kent, an investigative journalist, a wounded veteran of the Spanish Civil War, a celebrated novelist and a dreamer whose life was cut short by tuberculosis.

Shelden's portrait is complex and subtle. Drawing on a wide range of unpublished sources, it brings Orwell vividly to life as a passionate, vital, engaging personality. Meticulously researched and stylishly written, this is one of the most important literary biographies to be published.

'A highly readable and ...moving account of a man who looked at the world with wonder and wrote down what he saw, in admirable prose' John Mortimer

'An excellent and enthralling life' <cite>Spectator</cite>

'A very good book. It is deeply and honestly researched and unpretentiously written, and delivers a number of revelations. At every stage of Orwell's life, Shelden comes up with news.' <cite>Sunday Telegraph</cite>

'A clear, fluent, thoughtful narrative' <cite>Sunday Telegraph</cite>

'Shelden handles [Orwell's] conflicting aspects with great skill' Anthony Powell