George Orwell

George Orwell (legal name Eric Arthur Blair) was a writer best known for his dystopian critique of totalitarianism, 1984, and his short allegorical novel, Animal Farm, a critique of Stalinist-era Soviet politics.

1984 has spawned numerous references that are a staple of modern dystopian literature, such as Big Brother, thought police, and panoptican-style surveillance; control over language (NewSpeak) and the uses of propaganda to control the populace; control of sexuality as another means of controlling the populace; etc. Orwell's 1984 may have been influenced by Katharine Burdekin's anti-fascist novel, Swastika Night.