Orwell, George

   (pseudonym of Eric Blair, 1903-1950)

   The author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four, whose first novel, Burmese Days, and essays, such as "A Hanging" and "Shooting an Elephant," reflected his experiences in Burma from 1922 to 1927 as a young officer of the Indian Imperial Police. Posted to Myaungmya (Myoungmya), Twante, Insein (now Insein Township), Syriam (Thanlyin), Moulmein (Mawlamyine), and Katha (in Upper Burma), he described his service as "five boring years within the sound of bugles." His view of colonialism-that it enslaved colonized and colonizer alike and involved unconscionable brutalityevolved during this time. As a police officer dealing with criminal cases, he became familiar with the darker side of empire and decided, after returning to England in 1927, to quit the service and pursue a literary career. One of his earliest published essays, "A Hanging," is an eloquent critique of capital punishment based on his experience at a colonial jail, probably at Moulmein. Burmese Days, first published in the United States in October 1934, has such vividly drawn characters that his British publisher, Gollancz, hesitated to publish it until changes were made that reduced the possibility of libel (since then, the American edition has been seen as authoritative). Apart from descriptions of natural beauty, Burmese Days is unrelentingly dark, but it is also probably the best novel in the English language about the country.

   See also Collis, Maurice.