George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece,Nineteen Eighty-Fouris perhaps the most pervasively influential book of the twentieth century, making famous Big Brother, newspeak and Room 101.'Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past'Hiddenaway in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth,Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of theParty. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he livesin, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through theall-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolichead of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins asecret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers thetrue price of freedom is betrayal.Eric Arthur Blair(1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born inIndia, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author andjournalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figuresin twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegoryAnimal Farmwas published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia ofNineteen Eighty-Four(1949), which brought him world-wide fame.