Reading Henry’s diaries is taking longer than expected. Tumbling down the research rabbit hole every few pages is a time-consuming pleasure. Is that book Henry mentioned available readily online? How well did British officials understand Bengali and other local languages? Who were these linguists serving the civil service? What is a Gomashtah? How did the British rule and run their empire and what […]
“A sub-deputy’s job was to supervise the poppy growers in his district and make sure the crop was cultivated in the most efficient way. The government itself made cash advances to cultivators, purchased their product, carried on the manufacturing process and made the final sale of the poppy juice to the factories and exporters in […]
INDIA & BURMA Orwell and his parents were culturally Anglo-Indians. He was born in India and served for five years in Burma as an Assistant District Superintendent in the Indian Imperial Police. The centrality of the sub-continent to Orwell’s cultural, professional and imaginative identity can be observed throughout his life and work. He published Burmese […]
George Orwell spent five years working as a police officer during the 1920s before unexpectedly resigning to become a writer. There is compelling circumstantial evidence to suggest he experimented with opium while serving with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. A series of fortunate events led to deep research into this controversial topic. A signed […]
“I give all this background information because I do not think one can assess a writer’s motives without knowing something of his early development. His subject-matter will be determined by the age he lives in—at least this is true in tumultuous, revolutionary ages like our own—but before he ever begins to write he will have […]