Editing George Orwell (section)

===Jura and ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''===
''Animal Farm'' had particular resonance in the post-war climate and its worldwide success made Orwell a sought-after figure. For the next four years, Orwell mixed journalistic work—mainly for ''Tribune'', ''The Observer'' and the ''[[Manchester Evening News]]'', though he also contributed to many small-circulation political and [[literary magazine]]s—with writing his best-known work, ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', which was published in 1949. He was a leading figure in the so-called Shanghai Club (named after a restaurant in Soho) of left-leaning and émigré journalists, among them [[E. H. Carr]], [[Sebastian Haffner]], [[Isaac Deutscher]], [[Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth|Barbara Ward]] and [[Jon Kimche]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Koutsopanagou|first=Gioula|title=The British Press and the Greek Crisis, 1943–1949: Orchestrating the Cold-War 'Consensus' in Britain|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2020|isbn=978-1137551559|location=London|pages=52–53}}</ref>

[[File:Barnhill (Cnoc an t-Sabhail) - geograph.org.uk - 451643.jpg|thumb|right|[[Barnhill, Jura|Barnhill]] farmhouse on the Isle of [[Jura, Scotland|Jura]], Scotland. Orwell completed ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' while living here.]]

In the year following Eileen's death he published around 130 articles and a selection of his ''[[Critical Essays (Orwell)|Critical Essays]]'', while remaining active in various political lobbying campaigns. He employed a housekeeper, Susan Watson, to look after his adopted son at the [[Islington]] flat, which visitors now described as "bleak". In September he spent a fortnight on the island of [[Jura, Scotland|Jura]] in the [[Inner Hebrides]] and saw it as a place to escape from the hassle of London literary life. David Astor was instrumental in arranging a place for Orwell on Jura.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://theorwellprize.co.uk/news/remembering-jura/ |title=Remembering Jura, Richard Blair |publisher=Theorwellprize.co.uk |date=5 October 2012 |access-date=14 May 2014 |archive-date=31 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131052708/https://www.theorwellprize.co.uk/news/remembering-jura/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Astor's family owned Scottish estates in the area and a fellow Old Etonian, Robin Fletcher, had a property on the island. In late 1945 and early 1946 Orwell made several hopeless and unwelcome marriage proposals to younger women, including [[Celia Kirwan]]; Ann Popham, who happened to live in the same block of flats; and [[Sonia Brownell]], one of Connolly's coterie at the ''Horizon'' office. Orwell suffered a tubercular haemorrhage in February 1946 but disguised his illness. In 1945 or early 1946, while still living at Canonbury Square, Orwell wrote an article on "British Cookery", complete with recipes, commissioned by the [[British Council]]. Given the post-war shortages, both parties agreed not to publish it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theorwellprize.co.uk/life-and-work.aspx |title=The Orwell Prize {{!}} Life and Work – Exclusive Access to the Orwell Archive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210180526/http://www.theorwellprize.co.uk/life-and-work.aspx |archive-date=10 December 2007}}</ref> His sister Marjorie died in May.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ingle |first1=Stephen |title=George Orwell A Political Life |date=1993 |publisher=Manchester University Press |page=84}}</ref>

On 22 May 1946, Orwell set off with his two-year-old son, who he treated as a mini-adult,<ref name=son/> to live on Jura in [[Barnhill, Jura|Barnhill]], an abandoned farmhouse without outbuildings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orwelltoday.com/jurabarnhillvisit.shtml|title= Barnhill}} is located at {{Coord|56|06|39|N|5|41|30|W|display=inline}} ([[British national grid reference system]] NR705970)</ref> Conditions at the farmhouse were primitive but the natural history and the challenge of improving the place appealed to Orwell. His son found out later that Orwell was terrified of passing on his tuberculosis to him by hugging or kissing him, and concerned that this would interfere with his bonding with the child.<ref name=son/> Orwell returned to London in late 1946 and picked up his literary journalism again. Now a well-known writer, he was swamped with work. Apart from a visit to Jura in the new year he stayed in London for [[Winter of 1946–1947 in the United Kingdom|one of the coldest British winters on record]] and with such a national shortage of fuel that he burnt his furniture and his child's toys. The heavy smog in the days before the [[Clean Air Act 1956]] did little to help his health, about which he was reticent, keeping clear of medical attention. Meanwhile, he had to cope with rival claims of publishers Gollancz and Warburg for publishing rights. About this time he co-edited a collection titled ''British Pamphleteers'' with [[Reginald Reynolds]]. As a result of the success of ''Animal Farm'', Orwell was expecting a large bill from the [[Inland Revenue]] and he contacted a firm of accountants. The firm advised Orwell to establish a company to own his copyright and to receive his royalties and set up a "service agreement" so that he could draw a salary; "George Orwell Productions Ltd" (GOP Ltd) was set up on 12 September 1947.<ref name=Carroll>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-writer-wronged-nc07cw9clc5 |title=Tim Carroll 'A writer wronged' |journal=The Sunday Times |publisher=Timesonline.co.uk |date= 15 August 2014|access-date=14 May 2014}}</ref>
Orwell left London for Jura on 10 April 1947.<ref name=Taylor/> In July he ended the lease on the Wallington cottage.<ref>Crick (1982), p. 530</ref> Back on Jura he worked on ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. During that time his sister's family visited, and Orwell led a disastrous boating expedition, on 19 August,<ref>Orwell: Collected Works, ''It Is What I Think'', p. xx, ''Daily Telegraph'', 2 December 2013, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/10487292/George-Orwell-nearly-drowned-in-a-whirlpool-before-completing-Nighteen-Eighty-Four.html]</ref> which nearly led to loss of life whilst trying to cross the notorious [[Gulf of Corryvreckan]] and gave him a soaking which was not good for his health. In December a chest specialist was summoned from Glasgow who pronounced Orwell seriously ill, and a week before Christmas 1947 he was in [[Hairmyres Hospital]]. [[Tuberculosis]] was diagnosed and the request for permission to import the new medicine [[streptomycin]] to treat Orwell went as far as [[Aneurin Bevan]], then Minister of Health. [[David Astor]] helped with supply and payment and Orwell began his course of streptomycin on 19 or 20 February 1948.<ref>It Is what I Think, p. 274</ref> By the end of July 1948 Orwell was able to return to Jura and by December he had finished the manuscript of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. In January 1949, in a very weak condition, he set off for a sanatorium at [[Cranham, Gloucestershire]]. However, streptomycin could not be continued, as he developed [[toxic epidermal necrolysis]], a rare side effect.<ref name="Ross_2005">{{cite journal | vauthors = Ross JJ| title = Tuberculosis, bronchiectasis, and infertility: what ailed George Orwell? | journal = Clin Infect Dis | volume = 41 | issue = 11 | pages = 1599–1603| date = December 2005 | doi =10.1086/497838 |pmid = 16267732 | pmc= | doi-access = free |issn = 1058-4838}}</ref>

[[File:Animal Farm strip cartoon.jpg|thumb|280px|One of the ''[[Animal Farm]]'' cartoon strips produced for the Cold War anti-communist department of the British Foreign Office, the [[Information Research Department|IRD]]]]

The sanatorium at Cranham consisted of a series of small wooden chalets or huts in a remote part of the [[Cotswolds]] near [[Stroud]]. Visitors were shocked by Orwell's appearance and concerned by the shortcomings and ineffectiveness of the treatment. Friends were worried about his finances, but by now he was comparatively well off. He was writing to many of his friends, including Jacintha Buddicom, who had "rediscovered" him. In March 1949 he was visited by Celia Kirwan, who had just started working for a [[Foreign Office]] unit, the [[Information Research Department]] (IRD), set up by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government to publish [[anti-communist]] propaganda; Orwell gave her a list of people he considered to be unsuitable as IRD authors because of their pro-communist leanings. [[Orwell's list]], not published until 2003, consisted mainly of writers, and some actors and Labour MPs.<ref name="TGA"/><ref>{{cite news |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jun/21/books.artsandhumanities |first=John |last=Ezard |title=Blair's babe: Did love turn Orwell into a government stooge? |date=21 June 2003}}</ref> To further promote ''Animal Farm'', the IRD commissioned cartoon strips, drawn by [[Norman Pett]], to be placed in newspapers across the globe.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Defty|first=Andrew|title=Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda 1945–1953: The Information Research Department|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=|location=e-book version|pages=161}}</ref> Orwell received more streptomycin treatment and improved slightly. This repeat dose of streptomycin, especially after the side effect had been noticed, has been called "ill-advised".<ref name="Ross_2005"/> He then received [[penicillin]], presumably to treat his [[bronchiectasis]]; doctors knew it was ineffective against tuberculosis.<ref name="Ross_2005"/> In June 1949 ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' was published to critical acclaim.<ref>{{cite news |title=1950: Acclaimed author George Orwell dies |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/21/newsid_2669000/2669789.stm |access-date=20 September 2021 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>