George Orwell: A Sage for All Seasons By: Michael Shelden

Author: Michael Shelden, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Michael Shelden

George Orwell was more than just a writer. He was a political and social sage who valued, above all else, individual freedom. His works aren’t just entertainment – they’re cautionary tales and red flags of warning. And if we ever hope to understand threats to freedom and how to stop them, we must learn from them. 

In these 24 lectures, learn how the man born as Eric Blair forged himself into a writer of international importance and renown. Mixing historical inquiry, literary analysis, and cultural biography, Professor Shelden gets at the truth of British life in the opening decades of the 20th century. These lectures cover the creation, reception, and implication of Orwell’s major works, from Burmese Days and Homage to Catalonia to Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. 

Embark on a chronological journey through Orwell’s life and times, from his youth in Edwardian England to his formative experiences at boarding school (captured in the brilliant essay, “Such, Such Were the Joys”) to his being shot through the neck by a sniper while serving as a freedom fighter against the forces of General Franco. Along the way, examine the experiences – and the people – Orwell drew upon when forging himself into a writer and a citizen of the world. 

Here, in one comprehensive package, is a compendium of all Orwell’s many personas: the writer brave enough to speak truth to power, the soldier willing to sacrifice his life for others, the citizen willing to expose the injustices, and the sage for freedom-loving civilizations everywhere. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

21M	TGC2454 S01E01 The Real George Orwell.mp3
19M	TGC2454 S01E02 George Orwell, Child of the British Empire.mp3
17M	TGC2454 S01E03 Orwell's Edwardian Idyll.mp3
19M	TGC2454 S01E04 Orwell's Unsentimental Education.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E05 Orwell, Eton, and Privilege.mp3
17M	TGC2454 S01E06 Orwell the Policeman.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E07 Orwell and the Imperial Burden.mp3
17M	TGC2454 S01E08 Orwell's Lost Generation.mp3
17M	TGC2454 S01E09 Orwell, Poet of Poverty.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E10 Orwell and the Battle of Fact and Fiction.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E11 Orwell and England in the 1930s.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E12 Orwell and the Left.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E13 Orwell and the Spanish Crucible.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E14 Totalitarianism and Lessons of Barcelona.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E15 Orwell and the Last Days of Peace.mp3
19M	TGC2454 S01E16 Orwell at the Outbreak of World War.mp3
19M	TGC2454 S01E17 Orwell and the Art of Propaganda.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E18 Orwell and the Cultural Underground.mp3
19M	TGC2454 S01E19 Orwell and the Fight for Animal Farm.mp3
18M	TGC2454 S01E20 Orwell's Wife and the Life of Writing.mp3
20M	TGC2454 S01E21 Politics and the English Language.mp3
19M	TGC2454 S01E22 Orwell's Island Escape.mp3
20M	TGC2454 S01E23 1984 - Big Brother and the Thought Police.mp3
20M	TGC2454 S01E24 Orwell's Long Farewell.mp3
431M	total