The War Commentaries

by George Orwell

These 49 talks, written & in part delivered by Orwell from 12/20/41, to 3/13/1943, over the BBC, were designed to counter the lies & misrepresentations being broadcast via Axis radio stations. West has restored most of the passages that were deleted by the Ministry of Information censor & provides clarifying footnotes, some of which identify clear foreshadowings of the novelist's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell not only reported on weekly developments in the main theaters of war but on campaigns such as the invasion of Madagascar & early raids on the coast of Europe. The commentaries are followed by an appendix containing a selection of Axis broadcasts, including a German account of the British victory at El-Alamein & a talk by "Lord Haw-Haw" on the Communist threat to Great Britain. Admirers of Orwell will be interested to see how a writer of his stature perceived the war as it progressed week by week. The texts of his talks & the Axis broadcasts in the appendix provide a rare look at a propaganda war.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World History, Military History, Politics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Eric Arthur Blair was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both fascism and stalinism), and support of democratic socialism.

Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.

Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.

Reviews

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the propaganda Orwell was working on during his time at the BBC, for broadcast to India, and it's bad, very bad, bombastic, patronising and blandly written. Interesting only for those who want to explode the tedious Saint George cult (as if his naming names wasn't enough) or for fans of Nineteen Eighty-Four who want to find its roots in Orwell's own day job and his deep self-hatred (all the praise of Stalin here must have eaten him up especially). Even some of the same phrases are used - 'bringing the war within measurable distance of its end victory!' - as those in the telescreen broadcasts in that book.

[Pollo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno de los diarios que más he disfrutado.

Algunas citas:

"De una carta de Lady Oxford al Daily Telegraph, sobre la cuestión de la economía de guerra:

Como la mayoría de las casas de Londres están abandonadas, hay pocas diversiones. […] En cualquier caso, la mayoría de los habitantes ha tenido que prescindir de sus cocineras e irse a vivir a los hoteles.

Por lo visto, nada ni nadie podrá enseñar nunca a este gente que el otro noventa y nueve por ciento de la población existe".
3 de junio de 1940

"Siempre, cuando camino por las estaciones de metro, me enferma la publicidad, las estúpidas caras que te miran y los estridentes colores, la general y frenética lucha por inducir a la gente a que gaste trabajo y material consumiendo inútiles lujos o dañinas drogas"

14 de junio de 1940

"No es que quiera morir, claro: tengo mucho por lo que vivir, a pesar de la mala salud y de no tener hijos"
24 de junio de 1940

Me gusta como se va describiendo la entrada en guerra, desde la inicial indiferencia al peligro, las primeras medidas, la aceptación, los conflictos entre si usar máscara de gas o no, este diario de 1940-1942, me hizo recordar mi 2020-2022, solo que la duda era sobre usar mascarilla, no máscara antigas y uno estaba encerrado en su casa, no en un refugio subterráneo.

Sensibilidad adelantada a su época para preocuparse de como sufrían los perros durante los bombardeos, incluido el suyo, llamado Marx. Varios nombres censurados o con siglas sin identificar, al menos en mi edición, así que no se puede saber la identidad de muchos de los que apoyaban al nazismo o despreciaban a los judíos.

Cuando describe su trabajo en la BBC: "El ambiente es una mezcla entre una escuela para señoritas y un asilo de lunáticos, y todo lo que hacemos en este momento es inútil, o un poco peor que inútil" (14 de marzo de 1942) Sorprende la cantidad de rumores, que ahora nos parecen absurdos: que Rusia solo tendrán una guerra ficticia con Alemania, que Japón invadirá Rusia, que Alemania le prometió su independencia a la India, una posible invasión inglesa a España etc.

Curiosidades como cuando cuenta que Wells le dijo que era "una mierda" y la vergonzosa cobardía de la Iglesia a favor del Eje (27 de marzo de 1942) o las críticas a Gandhi (3 de abril de 1942). También las dudas sobre la masacre de Lidice, que no tuvo en cuenta Binet para su libro, al menos de lo que recuerdo.

Con este diario me doy cuenta que Orwell sigue siendo un autor clásico poco conocido y quizás hasta incomprendido. Con un vida extraordinaria y sin la pose de otros en esa onda como Hemingway.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book if one is in the business of influencing the public. Orwell wrote scripts and did commentary for the BBC Radios India service. So he was fighting the propaganda war with the Japanese. Sections of the Indian public were not so much pro-Japanese as anti-Empire so he did have hearts and minds to capture.
The way he did this was to be about as honest as he could be about the progress of the war. The writing is fluid and measured. His insights into the grand strategy of the war is as good anything written with 50 years hindsight.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orwell’s “War-time diary” which I read from his “Orwell facing unpleasant facts” is interesting but the first time I only read 50%, I was not really into his political views. I decided to start it up again and read it through. I love his novels and I would really have to read more of his essays/diaries to truly see where he is politically. First and foremost, when looking at books and writings from the past, it is necessary to see the times as they were then. For instance the left/progressive movement of today is quite different than during the past. What would Orwell think of COVID and the politically correct, censorship that has and is happening, especially his beloved British empire. In his books it seems to regard facism the main enemy but what it all comes down to is that there is the longing for power on all sides but the socialist snd communist countries seem to want speech controlled.
His dog’s name is “Marx”, I wonder why he named him that? A couple thoughts on his comments about guns and the lack for citizens in the war, needing a huge amount from the USA. He had underestimated Churchill. His antisemitic remarks in both his friend’s and his comments, is a little surprising but then again it is not surprising having read other British authorship.

❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert

Page 65 | Highlight (Yellow)
Still no evidences of any interest in the war. Yet the by-elections, responses to appeals for men, etc., show
what people’s feelings are. It is seemingly quite impossible for them to grasp that they are in danger,
although there is good reason to think that the invasion of England may
Page 65 | Highlight (Yellow)
be attempted within a few days, and all the papers are saying this. They will grasp nothing until the bombs
are dropping. Connolly says they will then panic, but I don’t think so.
Page 65 | Highlight (Yellow)
Have heard on so many sides of the shortage of rifles that I believe it must be true.
Apr 15, 2026
Page 67 | Highlight (Yellow)
“Since most London houses are deserted there is little entertaining . . . in any case,
Page 67 | Highlight (Yellow)
most people have to part with their cooks and live in hotels.” Apparently nothing will ever teach these people
that the other 99% of the population exist.
Page 68 | Highlight (Yellow)
But where I feel that people like us understand the situation better than so-called experts is not in any power
to foretell specific events, but in the power to grasp what kind of world we are living in. At any rate I have
known since about 1931 (Spender says he has known since 1929) that the future must be catastrophic. I could
not say exactly what wars and revolutions would happen, but they never surprised me when they came. Since
1934 I have known war between England and Germany was coming, and since 1936 I have known it with
complete certainty. I could feel it in my belly, and the chatter of the pacifists on the one hand, and the
Popular Front people who pretended to fear that Britan
Page 68 | Highlight (Yellow)
was preparing for war against Russia on the other, never deceived me.

Page 72 | Highlight (Yellow)
Went to the office of the [New Statesman]31 to see what line they are

Page 72 | Highlight (Yellow)
taking about home defence. C.,32 who is now in reality the big noise there, was rather against the “arm the
people” line and said that its dangers outweighed its possible advantages. If a German invading force finds
civilians armed it may commit such barbarities as will cow the people altogether and make everyone anxious
to surrender.

Page 73 | Highlight (Yellow)
A thought that occurred to me yesterday: how is it that England, with one of the smallest armies in the world,
has so many retired colonels?

Page 73 | Highlight (Yellow)
that all the “left” intellectuals I meet believe that Hitler if he gets here will take the trouble to shoot people
like ourselves and will have very extensive lists of undesirables. C.38 says there is a move on foot to get our
police records (no doubt we all have them) at Scotland Yard destroyed. Some hope! The police are the very
people who would go over to Hitler once they were certain he had won.

Page 75 | Highlight (Yellow)
Whichever way one looks, whether it is at the wider strategic aspects or the most petty details of local
defence, one sees that any real struggle means revolution. Churchill evidently can’t see or won’t accept this,
so he will have to go. But whether he goes in time to save England from conquest depends on how quickly the
people at large can grasp the essentials.

Page 75 | Highlight (Yellow)
After Spain, I cannot help feeling that Russia, i.e. Stalin, must be hostile to any country that is genuinely
Page 76 | Highlight (Yellow)
undergoing revolution. They would be moving in opposite directions. A revolution starts off with wide
diffusion of the ideas of liberty, equality, etc. Then comes the growth of an oligarchy which is as much
interested in holding onto its privileges as any other governing class. Such an oligarchy must necessarily be
hostile to revolutions elsewhere, which inevitably re-awaken the ideas of liberty and equality.

Page 76 | Highlight (Yellow)
Orders to the L.D.V. that all revolvers are to be handed over to the police, as they are needed for the army.
Clinging to useless weapons like revolvers, when the Germans have submachine guns, is typical of the British
army, but I believe the real reason for the order is to prevent weapons getting into “the wrong” hands.

Page 77 | Highlight (Yellow)
I saw in one of yesterday’s papers that gas masks are being issued in America, though people have to pay for
them. Gas masks are probably useless to the civilian population in England and almost certainly so in America.
The issue of them is simply a symbol of national solidarity, the first step towards wearing a uniform. . . . .As
soon as war started the carrying or not carrying of a gas mask assumed social and political implications. In the
first few days people like myself who refused to carry one were stared at and it was

Page 77 | Highlight (Yellow)
generally assumed that the non-carriers were “left.” Then the habit wore off, and the assumption was that a
person who carried a gas mask was of the ultra-cautious type, the suburban rate-payer type. With the bad
news the habit has revived and I should think 20 per cent now carry them. But you are still a little stared at if
you carry one without being in uniform. Until the big raids have happened and it is grasped that the Germans
don’t, in fact, use gas, the extent to which masks are carried will probably be a pretty good index of the
impression the war news is making on the public.

Page 78 | Highlight (Yellow)
The difficult question is how much deliberate treachery exists. . . . .L.M.,49 who knows or at least has met all
these people, says that with individual exceptions like Churchill the entire British aristocracy is utterly corrupt
and lacking in the most ordinary patriotism, caring in fact for nothing except preserving their own standards
of life.

Page 82 | Highlight (Yellow)
According to Time, the American Communists are working hand in glove with the local Nazis to prevent
American arms getting to England. One can’t be sure how much local freedom of action the various
Communists have. Till very recently it appeared that they had none. Of late however they have sometimes
pursued contradictory policies in different countries. It is possible that they are allowed to abandon the “line”
when strict clinging to it would mean extinction.

Page 83 | Highlight (Yellow)
This evening I saw a heron flying over Baker Street. But this is not so improbable as the thing I saw a week or
two ago, i.e., a kestrel killing a sparrow in the middle of Lord’s cricket ground. I suppose it is possible that the
war, i.e. the diminution of traffic, tends to increase bird life in inner London.

Page 85 | Highlight (Yellow)
H. G. Wells knows Churchill well and says that he is a good man, not mercenary and not even a careerist. He
has always lived “like a Russian commissar,” “requisitions” his motor cars, etc., but cares nothing about
money. But [H. G.

Page 85 | Highlight (Yellow)
Wells] says Churchill has a certain power of shutting his eyes to facts and has the weakness of never wanting
to let down a personal friend, which accounts for the non-sacking of various people.

Page 85 | Highlight (Yellow)
The money situation is becoming completely unbearable. . . . . ..Wrote a long

Page 85 | Highlight (Yellow)
letter to the Income Tax people pointing out that the war had practically put an end to my livelihood while at
the same time the government refused to give me any kind of job. The fact which is really relevant to a writer’
s position, the impossibility of writing books with this nightmare going on, would have no weight officially. . . .
Towards the government I feel no scruples and would dodge paying the tax if I could. Yet I would give my life

Page 85 | Highlight Continued
for England readily enough, if I thought it necessary. No one is patriotic about taxes.

Page 96 | Highlight (Yellow)
Surprised to find that D., who is distinctly Left in his views, is inclined to share the current feeling against the
Jews. He says that the Jews in business circles are turning pro-Hitler, or preparing to do so. This sounds almost
incredible, but

Page 96 | Highlight (Yellow)
according to D. they will always admire anyone who kicks them. What I do feel is that any Jew, i.e. European
Jew, would prefer Hitler’s kind of social system to ours, if it were not that he happens to persecute them.
Ditto with almost any Central European, e.g. the refugees. They make use of England as a sanctuary, but they
cannot help feeling the profoundest contempt for it. You can see this in their eyes, even when they don’t say
it outright. The fact is that the insular outlook and the
Page 97 | Highlight (Yellow)
continental outlook are completely incompatible.
Page 97 | Highlight (Yellow)
Thinks there is no answer to the New Order,108 i.e. this government is incapable of framing any answer, and
people here and in America could easily be brought to accept it. I queried whether people would not for
certain see any peace offer along these lines as a trap. H. P.: “Hell’s bells, I could dress it up so that they’d
think it was the greatest victory in the history of the world. I could make them eat it.” That is true, of course.
All depends on the form in which it is put to people.

Page 97 | Highlight (Yellow)
H. P. says that when France collapsed there was a Cabinet meeting to decide whether to continue the war or
whether to seek terms. The vote was actually 50–50 except for one casting vote, and according to H. P. this
was Chamberlain’s. If true, I wonder whether this will ever be made public. It was poor old Chamberlain’s last
public act, as one might say, poor old man.
Page 100 | Highlight (Yellow)
29.12.40: From a newspaper account of a raid (not ironical): “Bombs were falling like manna.”

[Reanna Druxerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dense week-by-week propaganda broadcast to India by good ol’ Orwell. Learned about war!

[Manuel Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orwell da una buena idea sobre la situación en la India, el efecto de Dunkerke, las repercusiones de Barbarroja y la moral de Inglaterra en esa época. Recomendado.

[Yupa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Libro formato da tre parti.
La prima sono i diarî che danno il titolo al volume e la terza delle lettere pubblicate negli anni della guerra da un quotidiano americano.
Entrambe queste parti, spiace dirlo, sono forse interessanti per i maniaci della storia più minuta, tanto sono piene di dettagli su eventi e personaggi che ormai quasi tutti avranno dimenticato. Certo, si respira un po' l'atmosfera di un paese sotto attacco, ma è poca cosa, e per giunta è tutto abbastanza ripetitivo.
Potrebbero incuriosire anche chi vuole un confronto tra l'Orwell narratore e l'Orwell pensatore, col secondo che ne esce maluccio, tante sono le sue previsioni errate, in primis quella su un'imminente rivoluzione socialista nel Regno Unito; ma si può anche sorridere quando afferma che la guerra avrebbe dimostrato la superiorità dell'economia pianificata su quella liberale. Va riconosciuto però che in una delle sue ultime lettere, scritta a ridosso della fine del conflitto, Orwell ammette con grande onestà le cantonate che ha preso, senza difese con arrampicamenti sugli specchî. Una cosa che non è da tutti. Bravo.
La seconda parte, un saggio su cui torna ancora, ma in maniera più organica e meditata, sulla possibilità di una rivoluzione in Inghilterra, è la migliore. Non tanto per i contenuti, che hanno i limiti di tutto il resto del volume, ma per la forma. Qui si riconoscono le capacità e la prosa di uno dei narratori più importanti del Novecento, al di là di quello che poi dice.
Un libro da consigliare solo ai completisti che vogliano aver letto tutto di Orwell e farsi un'idea più ampia della persona dietro al romanziere, ma per il resto poco interessante e utile soprattutto a rimarcare come il futuro resti sostanzialmente imprevedibile anche a una mente per il resto brillante e curiosa.

[Rick (Ricky)]

This book is a collection of news briefings written by Orwell, which were to be broadcast in India during World War II. At the time there was a concern that the propaganda being produced by the Axis powers would harm Indian support for the war effort. On a weekly basis Orwell was provided with translations of current Axis propaganda with a summaries of the actual war situation, from which he would produce his news briefings. It was during this period that he became exposed to the wealth of propaganda which could be used to manipulate a society. He used this experience, as well as the information of the treatment of Japanese and German occupied countries as a foundation for the depiction of societies and propaganda in "Animal Farm" and "1984".
Overall a good read which provides some very insightful assessments of the progress of WWII.

[Benj · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating story about how Eric Blair was employed by the BBC to broadcast to India during the Second World War. It's a story of contradictions: Orwell believed in Indian independence, yet his role was to convince the Indians that they were better of under British rule than they would be if they were 'liberated' by the Japanese.

An honest man, Orwell had to lie, or at least fudge the truth, in order to get the approved story across. Mind you, reading these broadcasts I am struck at how honest the government was in reporting setbacks and outright defeats.

The other cross that Orwell had to bear was that he detested Stalin and Stalinism, and yet Russia was the great ally whose exploits had to be praised to the skies. His teeth must have been firmly gritted as he read out some of the reports.

[Francisco Barrios · Rating 4 out of 5]

El genio literario de Orwell, su compromiso político, sus dotes de observación y análisis de la situación mundial, inclusive algunas posturas (propias de la época) abiertamente racistas (la aseveración etnocentrista de que "los europeos son una raza superior a los turcos"). Todo está aquí y nos ayuda a conocer mejor al autor que fue George Orwell.

La gente de Sexto Piso hizo un buen trabajo (aunque no impecable en términos editoriales). Sin duda una cronología de cómo se vivió la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Inglaterra (de 1940 a 1942) hubiera sido de gran ayuda para entender mucho mejor lo que es narrado en el volumen. Una grata adición a las obras de Orwell en español: excelente formato y a un buen precio.

[Donnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating lecture. Orwell describes its everyday perception about the development of the Second World War as news unfold. Gradual changes in Londoners actions, day to day advances in the French and North African battles, as well as political moves in the UK and India.

This books submerges the reader in the slow development of a war from the point of view of a culturally-informed and critic citizen. Orwell asses news as they arrive and tries to extract information about what is really happening in a time when the public in London shifts from non concern to hysteria regarding the war.

[Luis Alv · Rating 2 out of 5]

La verdad es que este diario me ha gustado mucho. No es un diario íntimo, sino de guerra, con los acontecimientos que Orwell considera narran el transcurso de dos períodos de ésta. Es muy interesante entrar en ese tipo de intimidad que no es tan explorada: cuáles son los intereses históricos y políticos en el momento en que suceden. Sobre todo, siendo Orwell una persona tan interesada en la política y que llega a ser corresponsal de la BBC para dar y expedir reportes y propaganda, su mirada hacia su presente es muy reveladora: cómo funciona el aparato propagandístico, la ridiculez de agentes políticos que hoy en día son considerados héroes, la cotidianidad de los bombardeos, actos cívicos deplorables, los diferentes periódicos y sus corrientes políticas, los procesos de independencia de la India (y su injerencia alemana), etc.

Este diario saca esta época de la era mítica en que hoy en día son colocados por las clases de historia, y las traen a lo humano.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tal vez mi error fue interesarme por este libro. Ocurre que lo que yo necesitaba (o creia que necesitaba, o creia que debia) era leer una de sus obras cumbres (Rebelion en la Granja o 1984) Y como no queria hacerlo, entonces, me interese por este "otro" libro de Orwell que si me interesaba por tratarse de la Segunda Guerra (por aquellos dias, mi mayor tema de lectura) Y asi fue como fue a parar con este libro que es un chasco. Ni Orwell lo leeria.

[Giuliana Cassia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessante quadro "dal vivo" sull'esperienza della guerra inglese.
È particolarmente sconvolgente leggere come anche chi è universalmente considerato uno dei più brillanti analisti politici del Novecento abbia sbagliato ogni previsione!

[Mariona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely bright. In Orwell's line.