“MI5 took a surprisingly benign view of the writer.”
Probably because they realized that the most vehement anti-socialists are disillusioned Socialist?
True enough, and it hits embarassingly close to home.
he was always a socialist, he was just very much anti-soviet. they tried to kill him in Spain and did kill many of his friends
Socialist myself in the immediate post war years in England. Sure, some of Englands best and finest were socialists. Very quickly, the political charlatans latched on to an easy thing. The old working class war horses were given high office.
How quickly some of them morphed (new word I picked up) into veddy special persons. I know that Orwell was asking about the defunding of these elite "public schools". The socialist got a foot in, by saying that this elite class ridden system must go. Orwell asked a socialist biggie, as to what he was going then to do. This regarding the socialist's offspring.
The socialist then said, "if we cannot restrict them, MY CHILDREN will jolly well gain entry to 'er, Harrow or Eton . This they did. Orwell was horrified. A little known book by Orwell and just an absolute joy is:
Coming Up For Air
Written just before 1939, Orwell used this escapist novel to forecast the bombing of England. Orwell said the poor downtrodden English public would fight. Fight to preserve the row housing, the tabacconists shop, the fish and chips shop. He touched on the ecology (believe it or not).
Orwell was right. A bit of a screed, no harm done though (laughs).