Reading Romantics: Texts and Contexts Book

Re-tracing Orwell's own steps and making many of her own through modern-day Myanmar/Burma, Emma Larkin writes a convincing case that both 1984 and Animal Farm, George Orwell's most well-known works, are inspired by the paranoia and fear-mongering of the Burmese police state. Orwell spent approximately five years in Burma as a British imperial policeman in the 1920s, and traveled widely around the country. Many of his experiences in the country led to his work Burmese Days, and his experiences there undoubtedly influenced his later work, as well as his philosophies on colonialism, politics, and the future of society.

The book is part biography of George Orwell, and part modern-day travelogue and reporting in Myanmar/Burma. Larkin was watched closely as she traveled and researched for this book. The name "Emma Larkin" is actually a pseudonym, to ensure the safety of her many sources, the people she met everyday in her travels.