'1984' is George Orwell's last book, published in 1949, a year before his death. This dystopian novel made the author famous and remains the gold standard of the genre. Set in London, one of the capitals of the totalitarian superstate Oceania, its frighteningly detailed description of a society based on fear and oppression serves as the backdrop for one of the most powerful human stories in world literature. The plot centers on the fate of a minor dissident party functionary, Winston Smith, and his dangerous affair with a colleague.
Orwell's book was banned in the USSR until 1989: likely, the country's party leadership recognized features of the Soviet system in the social structure of Oceania. However, the society Orwell described was not a copy of the totalitarian regimes he knew. '1984' still reads as a highly relevant commentary on current events.
This book presents the novel in a new, modern translation by Leonid Bershidsky.
