By 1933 Eric Blair, now George Orwell, had published his first book, Down and Out in Paris and in London. Arena: George Orwell II: Road to Wigan Pier
‘I don’t think he liked his fellow man at all.’ ibid. Humphrey Dakin, 1971
£500 to write a book about the depressed areas of the north. ibid.
‘He went to Spain because he thought we must fight fascism.’ Arena: George Orwell III: Homage to Catalonia, village neighbour
The civil war in Spain broke out on the 18th July 1936. General Franco’s attack on the beleaguered Spanish republic had angered a great many English intellectuals on the left. ibid.
For Orwell, after his experience in the Spanish Civil War, totalitarianism had become the enemy. He saw the coming war in Europe as a conflict between two distorted ideologies: Nazi fascism and Stalinist communism. Arena: George Orwell IV: The Lion & The Unicorn
‘One must above all die fighting.’ ibid.
‘The goose step for instance is one of the most terrible sights in the world.’ ibid.
28th August: ‘I am now definitely an employee of the BBC.’ ibid.
Orwell was denied any pleasure from the victory celebrations at the end of World War II. He and his wife Eileen had adopted a baby boy Richard but Orwell was separated from them working as a war correspondent when she was suddenly taken into hospital with what appeared to be a routine operation. Arena: George Orwell V: 1984
Isolated and angry in a world of gloom and shortages, Orwell struggled on alone with his adopted son. He sought female companionship with the desperation of the very lonely. ibid.
‘He had quite extensive disease of both lungs.’ ibid. Dr James Williamson
In the early 1970s you couldn’t avoid hearing Cat Stevens. His music seemed to come from every window. We were all beguiled by his good looks, and by songs that seemed to provide answers for a generation searching for meaning after the tumult of the 1960s. But then Cat Stevens abruptly quit music to begin a new life as Yussuf Islam, a devout Muslim dedicating himself to education and humanitarian work. Alan Yentob, Imagine … The Artist Formerly Known as Cat Stevens, BBC 2006
After a year away, Cat Stevens came back with a new look, a new sound, and songs that perfectly caught the mood at the dawn of the 1970s. ibid.
I said, ‘God, if you save me, I’ll work for you.’ ibid.
‘Yussuf Islam, once known as the singer Cat Stevens, has been refused entry to the United States; he’s apparently regarded as a threat to US national security. Really? On what evidence?’ ibid. BBC Newsnight 22 September 2004
Famous for writing 1984 and inventing Big Brother, George Orwell witnessed and reported on some of the defining moments of the 20th century. But there are no moving pictures of Orwell. Nor are there any recordings of his voice. He did leave a vast written legacy. George Orwell: A Life in Pictures, BBC 2003
George Orwell’s real name was Eric Blair. He was born on 25th June 1903 into what he labelled the lower upper middle class. ibid.
From childhood he had suffered from frequent chest infections. ibid.
Returning to London, Blair sank deeper into the underclass. ibid.
‘He was in a kind of world of his own half the time.’ ibid. family friend
A key piece of The Road to Wigan Pier is Orwell’s trip down a mine. ibid.
The Road to Wigan Pier was an immediate success. ibid.
122,356. After four months at the front, Orwell was granted leave to visit Barcelona. ibid.
Orwell and Eileen moved into London just in time for the Blitz. ibid.
His BBC Office was Room 101. ibid.
In 1945 Animal Farm was finally published … a critical triumph and a best-seller. ibid.
‘The execution would have been better if I not been under the influence of TB when I wrote it.’ ibid. Orwell, of 1984
In the early hours of March 2nd 1953 the most powerful man in the world lay dying alone. He had suffered a stroke at least twelve hours. His guards were worried but they did not dare go into his bedroom. How could a man worshipped by millions be left to lie helpless soaked in his own urine? Stalin had built an empire on a framework of terror justifying it in the name of a political faith, and through it he ruled his country, his government, his party and his family. Stalin: Inside the Terror, BBC 2003
In the Soviet Union his image was everywhere; he had become a living icon. The subject of a cult of personality. ibid.
The real man was a mass of contradictions. A dictator whose position was unassailable yet who was haunted by paranoia. Stalin used terror more effectively and scientifically than any other ruler. ibid.
Family photos show a warm gentle man surrounded by daughters, son, aunts, in-laws … Most of the people in these photos would be destroyed by him. ibid.
Stalin proved his usefulness to the Bolshevik cause by his diligent work as a bank robber and agitator. His reward was a post on the party’s central committee. ibid.
He loathed the intellectually arrogance of the silver-tongued Trotsky. ibid.
Stalin now had control of the party machinery; he would use it over the next six years to destroy Trotsky and all his other rivals. ibid.
Over 100,000 people in Leningrad alone would be imprisoned or shot. ibid.
‘The terror was organised deliberately from the center ... It was done by quota, by numbers, and not even by name.’ ibid. Simon Sebag Montefiore
The circle of terror slowly closed in on everyone, tightening and tightening until it touched his own family. ibid.
Those he hadn’t killed were rotting in the camps. ibid.
He man he chose to deliver the final coup was the Georgian secret policeman who had been looking after his mother: Lavrentiy Beria. ibid.
Stalin decreed that the wives and families of prisoners should be treated as traitors. ibid.
He had won the war and conquered eastern Europe. ibid.
His family had started to disappear as early as 1938, but for them the terror never stopped. ibid.
‘Oswald could not have been the lone assassin. In fact was not involved at all. It was done by the Central Intelligence Agency. And they left their initials all over Dealey Plaza for us to find. Think about that.’ Citizen Lane, Mark Lane, 2018
Mark Lane in his over eight decades has been a civil rights attorney, activist and author. But most of all an American. His life is a timeline of civil rights events. ibid.
‘The Warren Commission report is a fraudulent document from the first page to the last page.’ ibid.
Jonestown: ‘They were murdered. They did not kill themselves … The government has the tapes of people screaming … Guys with guns telling them, Drink it or we’ll shoot you.’ ibid. The Tomorrow Show 1978
Martin Luther King: The Lorraine Motel: ‘It was written by J Edgar Hoover. We have the documents now … Built, you’ve seen it, a shooting gallery … And it was the FBI that placed Dr King there.’ ibid.
My name is Freddie Foreman. I was London born and bred and proud of it. I was kicked out of school at 14 … What future was there for me? Fred: The Godfather of British Crime, 2018
I don’t regret any of my actions. ibid.
My association with the Kray brothers – that’s the worst thing that they say about me. ibid.
In 1997 Freddie Foreman published the autobiography Respect, an account of his lie as one of the most notorious criminals of the century. In the book he alludes to the murders of two men: Thomas Marks and Frank Mitchell. ibid. captions
All I wanted to do was make money so we could live a decent life. ibid. Fred
By the early 1960s, after the birth of his second son Jamie, Freddie had set up one of the most successful robbery firms in the country, with Mickey Regan and Alfie Gerrard. Freddie invested in houses, nightclubs, casinos, betting shops and minicab offices. ibid. captions
I got involved with the terrible twins. And all was ugliness. ibid. Fred
I’m a very loving peaceful person. ibid.
I had to go on the social and get support and help. ibid.
‘You’re talking about an artistic genius and a spiritual giant.’ Chasing Trane, fan, Netflix 2016
‘Trane had a sound that was heavenly.’ ibid.
‘In 1957 John Contrane is part of one of the groundbreaking groups of the day – the Miles Davis quintet. Miles Davis is looked upon as the harbinger of everything new.’ ibid.