This outstanding collection brings together Orwell’s longer, major essays and a fine selection of shorter pieces that includesMy Country Right or Left,Decline of the English Murder,Shooting an ElephantandA Hanging.With great originality and wit Orwell unfolds his views on subjects ranging from the moral enormity of Jonathan Swift’s strange genius and a revaluation of Charles Dickens to the nature of Socialism, a comic yet profound discussion of naughty sea-side picture postcards and a spirited defence of English cooking. Displaying an almost unrivalled mastery of English plain prose style, Orwell’s essays challenge, move and entertain.Contents:Why I WriteThe SpikeA HangingShooting an ElephantBookshop MemoriesMarrakechCharles DickensBoys' WeekliesInside the WhaleMy Country Right or LeftThe Lion and the UnicornWells, Hitler and the World StateThe Art of Donald McGillRudyard KiplingLooking Back on the Spanish WarW.B. YeatsPoetry and the MicrophoneBenefit of Clergy; Some Notes on Salvador DaliRaffles and Miss BlandishArthur KoestlerAntisemitism in BritainIn Defence of P.G. WodehouseNotes on NationalismGood Bad BooksThe Sporting SpiritNonsense PoetryThe Prevention of LiteratureBooks v. CigarettesDecline of the English MurderPolitics and the English LanguageSome Thoughts on the Common ToadA Good Word for the Vicar of BrayConfessions of a Book Reviewer