George Orwell on War – Human Voices Wake Us
An episode from 3/21/21: Tonight, I read from three newspaper articles by George Orwell on the outcry over Allied bombings of German cities during World War Two, and the aftermath of the atomic bombs being dropped on Japan. Nobody writes about war like George Orwell, and it’s refreshing to hear someone suggest that there’s no point in trying to civilize, or be more humane, when it comes war.
The best edition of Orwell’s essays is the huge Everyman’s Library edition. For the pieces I’ve read tonight, they are:
- As I Please #25, from May 19, 1944
- As I Please #33, from July 14, 1944
- You and the Atom Bomb, from October 19, 1945
- An online collection of all of his As I Please articles can be found here.
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Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com