Ricks points out that both had near-death experiences in the 1930s Churchill was hit by a car in New York City and Orwell was shot through the throat during the Spanish Civil War. Experience of empire made Orwell an anti-imperialist but Churchill did not ever want to lose the overseas dominions, especially India. They each served as war correspondents and had witnessed violent death. Orwell was a policeman in Burma and Churchill experienced conflict in Afghanistan, India and Africa before becoming a published author and politician in his twenties. The photos are also interesting imagery for Ricks’ commentary about Orwell and Churchill’s mutual recognition of the class snobbery still afflicting the navy, compared to the air force and army, during WWII.Īs young men, both ended up seeing the “dirty work” of empire by serving overseas. The photographs of both as boys in sailor suits suggests they had more similarities of birth than differences despite Churchill’s aristocratic antecedents. Orwell attended Eton, as a scholarship boy and Churchill, who was un-punctual and ill-disciplined, Harrow. The brief overview of their social backgrounds and personal trajectories is effective, especially as it is interspersed with insights that point out more similarities than one would imagine between the flamboyant, extroverted, aristocratic, Tory politician and an introverted, publicity-shy, bohemian, left-wing writer.Ĭhurchill and Orwell attended boarding schools from young ages and saw little of their fathers. The book, although a popular, general work of history, will appeal to those who know a great deal about Orwell and/or Churchill without alienating readers with an interest in these two important twentieth century figures but no great knowledge of their careers or historical context. In an era of omniscient surveillance by the state, where propaganda is known as “fake news” and opinion masquerades as fact, it is useful to read such a well-structured exploration of two unique individuals who believed in the importance of individual liberty and democracy. Ricks emphasises that Churchill and Orwell belong to a Western intellectual tradition that seeks objective truth. Ricksunexpectedly quotes the author more than his subjects. This review of Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom (2017) by Thomas E. There is a long direct line from Aristotle and Archimedes to Locke, Hume, Mill, and Darwin, and there through Orwell and Churchill…It is the agreement that objective reality exists, that people of goodwill can perceive it, and other people will change their views when presented with the facts of the matter.” Thomas E. “The Struggle to see things as they are is perhaps the fundamental driver of Western civilisation.
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