are Professor John Rodden, author of George Orwell: Life and Letters, Legend and Legacy; journalist and writer Dorian Lynskey whose biography of Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Ministry of Truth, was published in 2019; and editor of the George Orwell Society Journal Masha Karp, writer of the forthcoming George Orwell and Russia (Bloomsbury Academic).Photo: A man holding a German translation of George Orwell's 1984. (Adam Berry/Getty Images)21:T484,

George Orwell depicts what a world could possibly look like under an authoritarian regime in his dystopian novel 1984, coining neologisms such as Big Brother, Thoughtcrime and Doublethink.

Published in 1949, it remains highly influential in popular culture, and you have probably heard about the term Orwellian before. However, it is often misinterpreted, especially in social media, politics, and news. The term includes the manipulative and deceptive use of language to brainwash and control the society.

It is no wonder that it is the most widely used adjective derived from the name of a modern writer, even more common than Kafkaesque or Machiavellian. Orwell was a heavy opponent of totalitarian regimes, especially after what had happened in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.

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22:T501,Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Animal Farm, which Eric Blair published under his pen name George Orwell in 1945. A biting critique of totalitarianism, particularly Stalinism, the essay sprung from Orwell's experiences fighting Fascists in Spain: he thought that all on the left were on the same side, until the dominant Communists violently suppressed the Anarchists and Trotskyists, and Orwell had to escape to France to avoid arrest.

History of Ideas: George Orwell