1984

Published in 1949, 1984 by George Orwell remains one of the most prescient and disturbing novels ever written. Set in Airstrip One, a province of the superstate Oceania, it follows Winston Smith, a low-ranking Party member who works at the Ministry of Truth rewriting historical records. Winston secretly despises the Party and its omniscient ruler, Big Brother, and begins a forbidden love affair with Julia while seeking contact with a rumoured underground resistance movement. Orwell’s vision of perpetual war, doublethink, Newspeak, and the destruction of objective truth has only grown more urgent with time. A landmark of world literature and an essential warning about the fragility of freedom, individuality, and the truth itself.