Few writers can command as great a cultural and political legacy as George Orwell. Yet behind the literary figurehead of Big Brother and double-think lies a largely undiscovered man of complexities and contradictions. Compiled exclusively for The Folio Society, this collection offers a unique portrait of one of the 20th century’s most essential novelists, journalists and thinkers. Peter Davison, the world’s preeminent Orwell expert, has made an inspired selection from the most recent editions of letters and diaries, as well as correspondence from family and friends, to cover all aspects of Orwell’s life. From his first forays ‘as an amateur tramp’ to his joy at the English countryside and garden, it is the closest we hope to come to the autobiography Orwell never wrote.