Orwell's wartime diaries released

Still tied to the specters of the lost-cause Spanish Civil War, George Orwell kept an extensive wartime diary from England as the Axis swallowed up Europe in World War Two. He meant for the diary to be printed, but publishers were afraid it would offend people in the wake of that conflict.

But the Orwell Trust has released the diary in blog form at orwelldiaries.wordpress.com.

The diary gives some insight into some of Orwell's later work (you know which books I mean). It's important to remember that he was a socialist and unrepentant social critic, both of authoritarian communism and democratic capitalism (although a supporter of the war effort due to his experiences in the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War).

Here's one about censorship: "In the middle of a fearful battle in which, I suppose, thousands of men are being killed every day, one has the impression that there is no news"

Propaganda: "Huge advert on the side of a bus: “FIRST AID IN WARTIME. FOR HEALTH, STRENGTH AND FORTITUDE. WRIGLEY’S CHEWING GUM.”

Gardens: "Still, not warm, overcast but no rain. Sowed kale, savoys, sprouts, lettuce (cos), radishes. (Not broccoli, as the seed I have is of a late kind, to be sowed about May-June). Also leeks, 10-week stocks, foxgloves. Planted out 1 score cos lettuce. (Paid 4^d). Don’t know whether they will survive – probably not if there is a sharp frost. Put awning of sacking over the plants. Applied a little fertiliser (Woolworths, 6^d) to the grass. Ground could now do with a spot of rain."