Renowned political writer Eric Arthur Blair (better known by his pseudonym George Orwell) would be celebrating his 106th birthday Thursday, over half a century after his untimely death at 46. Blair is best known for his uncompromising social commentary on justice and totalitarianism through his dystopian novels Nineteen Eighty-Four and post-war satire Animal Farm. Inadvertantly, he also provided lesser social critics and lazy writers with their favourite anti-government epithet: “Orwellian.”

Beyond his influential work as a novelist, Blair was also a celebrated essayist.  My favourite essay of his, “Shooting An Elephant”, can be read in full here.