The unfolding Orwellian dystopia

Orwell’s ideas remain relevant 75 years after 'Animal Farm' was published.

Seventy-five years ago, in August 1946, George Orwell’s Animal Farm was published in the United States. It was a huge success, with over a half-million copies sold in its first year . Animal Farm was followed three years later by an even bigger success: Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four . In the years since, Orwell’s writing has left an indelible mark on American thought and culture. Sales of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four jumped in 2013 after the whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked confidential National Security Agency documents. And Nineteen Eighty-Four rose to the top of Amazon’s best-sellers list after Donald Trump’s Presidential Inauguration in 2017.