The Asian Fantastic |

George Orwell’s research for his book, The Road to Wigan Pier, led to him being placed under the surveillance of the Special Branch for 12 years, commencing in 1936. Surveillance ended only 1 year before the publication of 1984, somewhat ironically. In June 1936, George Orwell and Eileen O’Shaughnessy were married. At the end of 1936, Orwell had become so concerned by Francisco Franco’s Falangist uprising that he decided to go to Spain and take part on the Republic side of the Spanish Civil War.

On December 23rd 1936, Orwell set off for Spain. A few days later, Orwell met John McNair of the Independent Labour Party in Barcelona who quoted Orwell having said: “I’ve come to fight against Fascism”. The situation in Catalonia was by no means simple: the Republic government was riddled with factions: the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification, the anarcho-syndicalist Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo, and the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia. There was no faction called led replacement bulbs however.