The Orwell Book Club

What do you think about the 2006 Orwell Prize Winner? Do you have any memories of the Fifties, or would you like to know more about the period? If you've got any opinions, questions or talking points, this is the place to have your say!

Is the author of 'Democracy in America' and 'Ancien Regime' more than just an 'intellectual monument'? Discuss Hugh Brogan's brilliant biography here.

This is the story of 'one of history's most despicable villains and conmen', Louis Darquier ‘de Pellepoix’, a Nazi collaborator in Vichy France. What do you think about Callil's remarkable book?

Is Simon Jenkins right in arguing, as he does in this 'argued history', that the last thirty years (under both Conservatives and Labour) have been dominated by Thatcher? Was Tony Blair the most Thatcherite of Thatcherite Prime Ministers? Share your opinions and ask your questions here.

With British troops engaged in heavy fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Lewis Page's look at military funding is timely. How well does he make his case that the lions fighting for the armed forces are hindered by the dinosaurs and donkeys running them?

'The best book by far to come out of the Iraq mess', according to the Sunday Herald, but what are your opinions on Rory Stewart's experiences of governing an Iraqi province?

Orwell's first novel, inspired by his experiences in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. With its vivid descriptions - 'purple passages' - does it deserve to be ranked with Orwell's better-known, later works?

Orwell's biographer, D. J. Taylor, called it 'a curious novel, one of the oddest things that Orwell ever wrote'. Do you agree with his assessment of the novel, a novel which features many of Orwell's own tramping exploits alongside the breakdown of a clergyman's daughter?

'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' details the attempt of promising poet Gordon Comstock - 'aged twenty-nine and rather moth-eaten already' - to reject the prevailing ethics of the 'respectable', literary classes. Did you enjoy it? Or would you like to know more? Have a look at our discussion!

What do you think about Orwell's tale of one man's journey to his childhood home, an elegy for a bygone England?

'Underlying the entertaining fable, underlying even the brilliant satire, is George Orwell's vigorous, inescapable warning: Don't be a parrot. Think! Think for yourself!' So implores the cover of the edition of 'Animal Farm' pictured. But don't just think - share what you think on our discussion board.

'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' So writes Orwell in the first line of his most (in)famous book. Why not write a first line of your own in our discussion forum?

Orwell's tale of working as a Parisian plongeur and tramping between London lodging-houses and 'spikes' is a rich evocation of poverty and human nature. It also contains some advice which Orwell chose not to take from his Russian friend, Boris: 'Writing is bosh. There is only one way to make money at writing, and that is to marry a publisher's daughter.'

Part reportage, part polemic, 'The Road to Wigan Pier' sees Orwell on a journey across the North of England, but also into his own past, and towards his future views on socialism.

'It is the same in all wars; the soldiers do the fighting, the journalists do the shouting.' Orwell's time in Spain almost cost him his life, and inspired his suspicion of Communists. What do you think of his brutal but beautiful reportage?

Orwell's essays cover a vast range of subjects, from Dickens to Dali and from elephants to tramps. Whether you want to discuss the vivid descriptions of 'A Hanging' or debate the propositions of the more political essays, this is the place to do it.