George Orwell provides a vivid and unflinching portrayal of working-class life in Northern England during the 1930s. Through his own experiences and meticulous investigative reporting, Orwell exposes the harsh living conditions, poverty, and social injustices faced by coal miners and other industrial workers in the region. He documents their struggles with unemployment, poor housing, and inadequate healthcare, as well as the pervasive sense of hopelessness and despair that permeates their lives. In the second half of the The Road to Wigan Pier Orwell delves into the complexities of political ideology, as he grapples with the shortcomings of both socialism and capitalism in addressing the needs of the working class. GEORGE ORWELL was born in India in 1903 and passed away in London in 1950. As a journalist, critic, and author, he was a sharp commentator on his era and its political conditions and consequences.

You think that the recession isn't biting? Look again. You think that the riots in August 2011 were unpredicted? Think again. 75 years after George Orwell's classic expose on life in the North, Stephen Armstrong returns to find that many things have changed, but not always for the better. Here he finds how young girls go missing because of the intransigence of the benefits systems, how fragile hope can be in the face of poverty and why the government stands in the way of a community helping itself. In his journey, taking in Bradford, Sheffield, Liverpool and Wigan, Armstrong reveals a society at the end of its tether, abandoned by all those who speak in its name.

A brilliant exposé of poverty and politics in Britain. In 1937 George Orwell published The Road to Wigan Pier, an account of his famous 'urban ride' among the people and places of the Great Depression. Fifty years later we lived through a second Great Depression, and this time the journey north was made by a woman - like Orwell a journalist and a socialist, but, unlike him, working class and a feminist. Wigan Pier Revisited is a devastating record of what Beatrix Campbell saw and heard in towns and cities ravaged by poverty and unemployment. She talked to young mothers on the dole, to miners and their families, to school leavers, battered wives, factory workers, redundant workers; discovered what work, home, family, politics and dignity meant for working-class people. Out of this came her passionate plea for a genuine socialism, one informed by feminism, drawing its strength from the grass roots and responding to people's real needs.

The White Island is, and always has been, a magnet for hedonists. Its history reads like a history of pleasure itself. It is also a story of invasions and migrations, of artists and conmen, of drop-outs and love-ins. The Carthaginians established a cult to their goddess of sex there, and named the island after Bez, their god of dance. Roman centurions in need of a bit of down time between campaigns would go to Ibiza to get their kicks. And over the centuries, cultures around the Med have used the island either as a playground or a dump for the kind of people who didn't quite fit in back home, but who you'd probably quite like to meet at a party... This is the history of Ibiza, the fantasy island, framed by one long, golden summer where anything can happen - and it usually does.

Step into the heart of revolutionary Spain with George Orwell's powerful account, Homage to Catalonia. In this poignant narrative, Orwell recounts his firsthand experiences fighting in the Spanish Civil War, offering a vivid and deeply personal perspective on the political and social upheaval of the time. Orwell’s writing brings to life the intense struggles, challenges, and betrayals he witnessed as he joined the militia in Catalonia. With sharp clarity, he paints a stark picture of the ideological divides that tore the country apart, and the complexities of war that blurred the lines between friend and foe.But here's the twist that will captivate you: What does Orwell’s experience reveal about the nature of truth, power, and the human spirit during times of war? Can we learn from the past to avoid repeating its mistakes? This extraordinary memoir offers a rare look into the realities of war, filled with unflinching honesty and a deep sense of humanism. Through Orwell’s eyes, the reader gains an intimate understanding of the personal costs of conflict and the difficult choices soldiers had to make. Are you ready to witness the raw, unfiltered truths of war as seen through the eyes of one of history's most influential writers?Dare to immerse yourself in the brutal honesty of Homage to Catalonia and experience a unique chapter of history that continues to resonate today. Purchase it now, and begin your journey through Orwell’s compelling narrative of war, ideology, and survival.

They're ex-special forces, CIA spooks or Foreign Legionnaires. They're fighting insurgents in Baghdad and patrolling government buildings in Afghanistan. And now they're spying on environmental protestors and policing the 2012 Olympics. They are above the law and independent from government. They are the privatised armies of mercenaries. Meet the private security contractors - a stock-market-listed corporate version of the mercenary. These private soldiers operate their million-dollar contracts from executive boardrooms in London, Washington, Paris and Oslo. With democracies unwilling to see their children die for strategic reasons in foreign lands, these corporate soldiers are part of the last great outsourcing - the privatisation of war. 'With an estimated 48,000 private security contractors at work in Iraq alone, corporate warfare is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Journalist Armstrong's excellent book looks into how these companies operate.' GQ 'Frightening . . . He has collected some chilling anecdotes about the corners cut by companies who are only interested in profit.' Metro

In 2000 No Logo described a vision of rapacious corporations building brands at the expense of impoverished third world employees and ripped-off first world consumers. Now, only eight years later, No Logo looks almost optimistic against the rise of a new and insidious club of global billionaires who are buying up once unfashionable industries like oil, steel, shipping and mining from distressed third-world nations and formerly Communist powers. Often backed by mafia money or dubious political connections, these oligarchs have no shareholders and no home nation - they are the sum total of their corporations. We are dependent on these men - they fuelled our recent boom. They come to us for our light taxation and our willingness to sell them class and influence via an Eton education for their kids and cheaply bought honours. These men are becoming ever richer as the rest of the world suffers credit crunch and recession. They deal in the commodities that the planet's economies need but which are becoming ever more scarce. There are no national governments that can control or legislate against them - they will simply move to another of their five or six palatial homes. In this recession, we are all acutely aware of our dwindling wealth and the spiralling prices of essentials. The fact that these are in fewer and nastier hands than ever before has rarely - if ever - been explained by the media. It's time for a book that points out the power of these individuals and how they are just the start of a deeply worrying trend. The buyers of Tescopoly and No Logo have long been aware of overly powerful corporations. The rise of men whose personal wealth and power far outranks most of the companies in these books should alarm these concerned citizens - and encourage them to find out more. This book will paint a vivid picture using interviews, first hand experience, expert comment and some futurology to give them the information they need.