(pirated e-text in simple layout by Rodrick da Rat)As he lay dying,George Orwellsummoned his publisherFred Warburgto his bedside. No longer capable of holding a pen, the writer dictated a message to the public about the world of his new novel,Nineteen Eighty-Four. "Don't let it happen," he concluded."It depends on you.""Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."In an age of inescapable surveillance, fake news, alternative facts, would-be Big Brothers and endless low-level wars,George Orwell'swarning still speaks to us today, and with greater force than ever before. Republished with a new introduction byDennis Glover, author ofThe Last Man in Europe, Orwell's prophetic masterpiece is truly a story for our times. Orwell's courage and his refusal to be silenced inspire hope that, ultimately, the spirit of humanity will win through.  Ever since its publication in 1948,George Orwell’sterrifying vision of a totalitarian regime has become a touchstone for human freedom, and one of the most widely-read books in the world.George Orwell'sdystopian masterpiece,Nineteen Eighty-Fouris perhaps the most pervasively influential book of the twentieth century.