The "London Letters" were a series of fifteen articles written by

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) 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 a ...

when invasion by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

seemed imminent,http://www.bu.edu/partisanreview/books/ Boston University and published in the American left-wing literary magazine ''

Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a left-wing small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affi ...

''. As well as these "London Letters", ''PR'' also published other articles by Orwell.

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On 3 January 1941 Orwell sent the first of his fifteen "London Letters" which were to appear in ''PR'' over the next five and a half years. It was included in the March–April 1941 issue. Orwell, Sonia and Angus, Ian (eds.)''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 2: My Country Right or Left'', 16 (London, Penguin)

A controversy

The September–October 1942 issue of ''PR'' carried Orwell's reply to letters sent in by D. S. Savage,

George Woodcock George Woodcock (May 8, 1912 – January 28, 1995) was a Canadian writer of political biography and history, an anarchist thinker, a philosopher, an essayist and literary critic. He was also a poet and published several volumes of travel wri ...

and

Alex Comfort Alexander Comfort (10 February 1920 – 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician, writer and activist, known best for his nonfiction sex manual, '' The Joy of Sex'' (1972). He was a poet and author of both fiction and nonficti ...

in response to his "London Letter" of the March–April issue, in which he had criticised "left-wing defeatism" and "turn-the-other-cheek" pacifists, stating that they were "objectively pro-Fascist". In his article he had mentioned several people by name, including Comfort, and referred to the review '' Now'', of which Woodcock was editor, as an example of "the overlap between Fascism and pacifism" for publishing contributions by authors who defended these tendencies.Orwell, Sonia and Angus, Ian (eds.) ''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 2: My Country Right or Left'', pp. 211–212 (London, Penguin) In his reply, Orwell reiterated that "Pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist"; defended his work for the BBC's Indian broadcasts and refuted Comfort's accusation that he was "intellectual-hunting again".

References

{{Crimethink 1941 essays 1942 essays 1943 essays 1944 essays 1945 essays 1946 essays Essays by George Orwell Works originally published in Partisan Review

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A controversy

See also

References