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Down and Out in Paris and London (Annotated Edition)

  • Writen by George Orwell
  • Publisher Alma Classics
  • ISBN 9781847499271
  • Publication Date 2024

In late 1927, at the age of twenty-four, George Orwell relocated to a tiny flat on London’s Portobello Road, and from there embarked on a series of exploratory “tramping” expeditions to the city’s East End, then a place of great squalor and deprivation. Later he moved to Paris’s bohemian Latin Quarter, where, in early 1929, during a bout of serious illness, he was the victim of a robbery that left him in a state of near destitution, forcing him to work punishing hours in a series of menial jobs, including as a restaurant dishwasher. These real-life experiences laid the foundations for what would be the young writer’s first full-length work.

Populated by a troupe of colourful characters, replete with penetrating observations and cast in the limpid prose that would become Orwell’s hallmark, Down and Out in Paris and London – published by Victor Gollancz in 1933 – provides both an invaluable historical snapshot and an insight into the perennial social evils of inequality, poverty and alienation.

Alma Classics is committed to making available a wide range of literature from around the globe. Most of the titles are enriched by an extensive critical apparatus, notes and extra reading material, as well as a selection of photographs. The texts are based on the most authoritative edition and edited using a fresh, accessible editorial approach. With an emphasis on production, editorial and typographical values, Alma Classics aspires to revitalize the whole experience of reading classics.

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