George Orwell’s brilliant novel 1984 is a haunting vision of the future, and a harsh denunciation of totalitarian governments. The book that introduced the terms “Big Brother” and “newspeak” depicts a world at perpetual war, where the individual is enslaved to a state claiming to act only for the greater good. 1984 is a masterful dystopian work, as relevant today as it was when it first published in 1949. Animal Farm is Orwell’s allegorical criticism of communism, with its famous line, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The book reflects the events that led to the 1917 Russian Revolution, which ushered in communism, and then onto the Stalin era in the Soviet Union. Orwell brilliantly shows how idealism can be perverted to suit those who seek power for themselves. Together, these two remarkable books show the concerns of Orwell’s day, and provide a warning for future generations.