George Orwell

Daniel J. Leab: "George Orwell attempted in 1940 after the outbreak of World War II to enlist in His Majesty's armed forces. Because of ill-health, he failed. Had he succeeded and been killed in action he would be remembered by academic specialists, if at all. He would have been noted as a minor, not too successful English novelist and memoir writer who had penned some interesting critical essays and as a man considered by many of his contemporaries to be a rude person.
Fortunately, Orwell did not die in that war, and today his name has become an oft-used adjective. "Orwellian" has become a synonym for the oppressive social forces that make us discontented and fearful, whether they be state regimentation, dissimulation at any level of life, or abusive propaganda. His 1940s writings, whether books or essays, have had lasting and smashing impact. A prolific writer, he constantly honed his ideas and his prose. He was tempered by adversity -- well into his early 40s, despite his Etonian background, he lived a hand-to-mouth existence, partly by choice (given his uncompromising nature) and partly by circumstance (his writing brought little remuneration). Nor did his political attitudes make life any easier: in a U.K. many of whose intellectuals and academics were infatuated with a false view of the Soviet Union, Orwell questioned the premises of its government and ideology. ..."
Read more over at George Orwell: An Exhibition from the Collection of Daniel J. Leab at Brown University Library (a nod to Michelle)
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/University_Library/libs/hay/collections/orwell/leab.html