[dead]

The list was revealed by Timothy Garton Ash, a political historian and commentator, who said that what motivated Orwell was his love of Kirwan - "or at least his quest for her affection".

Oh yeah, it was all about sex.

Maybe he gave her the list because he correctly assessed the dangers posed by the communists in his midst.

[Xenalyte]

Oh, dear, not Jason Priestley!

[JohnGalt]

Orwell picked up a gun for Stalin in Spain, and lived to regret it. Perhpas he was just trying to correct his mistake?

[Tacis]

This is the kind of story that might get mentioned on Fox but will never appear in any of the US's left wing media.

[horse_doc]

Lesser known names include three Guardian journalists active in the 1940s

Orwell's only mistake was not naming EVERY Guardian journalist, and getting over with.

[Cicero]

This isn't a surprise. I enjoy Chaplin's movies, but I've always assumed he was a Communist, as he was accused of being back in the days of HUAC.

[T'wit]

Communist sympathizers -- Chaplin and Redgrave, for instance -- are not the same as "Communists" (story headline). I believe Orwell's point was to list prominent persons who were leftist but not reliably anti-communist. At that time, the left was badly split over whether leftist logic did or did not make them part of the communist (Stalinist) camp.

Orwell seems to be on target about all these people, i.e., none of them spoke for anti-communism. Driberg was actually a Soviet agent. NY TIMES reporter Walter Duranty (someone said he was on the list) was probably not an agent but was rewarded by the Soviets and even got access to the reclusive Stalin when nobody else did.