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"No worse employment exists" — Two Orwell essays depict brutal reality of 1930s working-class life

"No worse employment exists" — Two Orwell essays depict brutal reality of 1930s working-class life

Ellsworth Toohey
Jul 02, 2025
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"No worse employment exists" — Two Orwell essays depict brutal reality of 1930s working-class life
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George Orwell (DJSully / Shutterstock.com)

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of George Orwell's death, The New Statesman has published two essays by the author of 1984 and Animal Farm.

The special opens with "Hop-picking," Orwell's 1931 piece documenting his experience working in Kent's hop fields. Far from the "holiday with pay" some claimed it to be, …

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