The Ministry of Truth
The Biography of George Orwell's 1984
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.22
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Andrew Wincott
-
Written by:
-
Dorian Lynskey
About this listen
"Rich and compelling. . .Lynskey’s account of the reach of 1984 is revelatory.” --George Packer, The Atlantic
An authoritative, wide-ranging, and incredibly timely history of 1984 - its literary sources, its composition by Orwell, its deep and lasting effect on the Cold War, and its vast influence throughout world culture at every level, from high to pop.
1984 isn't just a novel; it's a key to understanding the modern world. George Orwell's final work is a treasure chest of ideas and memes - Big Brother, the Thought Police, Doublethink, Newspeak, 2+2=5 - that gain potency with every year. Particularly in 2016, when the election of Donald Trump made it a best seller ("Ministry of Alternative Facts", anyone?). Its influence has morphed endlessly into novels (The Handmaid's Tale), films (Brazil), television shows (V for Vendetta), rock albums (Diamond Dogs), commercials (Apple), even reality TV (Big Brother).
The Ministry of Truth is the first book that fully examines the epochal and cultural event that is 1984 in all its aspects: its roots in the utopian and dystopian literature that preceded it; the personal experiences in wartime Great Britain that Orwell drew on as he struggled to finish his masterpiece in his dying days; and the political and cultural phenomena that the novel ignited at once upon publication and that far from subsiding, have only grown over the decades. It explains how fiction history informs fiction and how fiction explains history.
©2019 Dorian Lynskey (P)2019 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
-
Existentialism and the Authentic Life
- Written by: Skye C. Cleary, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Skye C. Cleary
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 24 fascinating lectures of Existentialism and the Authentic Life, Professor Skye C. Cleary will lead you through the writings of many existentialists to help you understand how they addressed the biggest of all questions. Writing about love, death, sex, war, plagues, intrigue, murder, deception, and more, these thinkers guide you toward living an authentic and meaningful life in a world that often seems absurd.
-
-
Excellent course on Existentialism
- By Nicolas Velasquez on 2024-03-30
Written by: Skye C. Cleary, and others
-
Tripping on Utopia
- Margaret Mead, the Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science
- Written by: Benjamin Breen
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bold and brilliant revisionist take on the history of psychedelics in the twentieth century, illuminating how a culture of experimental drugs shaped the Cold War and the birth of Silicon Valley....
Written by: Benjamin Breen
-
Witchcraft
- A History in Thirteen Trials
- Written by: Marion Gibson
- Narrated by: Rose Akroyd
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Offering a striking, dramatic journey unspooling over centuries and across continents, Witchcraft is a “well-rounded insight into some of the strangest and cruelest moments in history” (Buzz Magazine), giving voice to those who have been silenced by history.
-
-
If you’re curious about witches and their history: it’s a must !!
- By Brenda on 2024-12-09
Written by: Marion Gibson
-
The Singularity Is Near
- When Humans Transcend Biology
- Written by: Ray Kurzweil
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 24 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: The union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our creations.
-
-
Terrible Audio
- By SL on 2024-03-20
Written by: Ray Kurzweil
-
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
- The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
- Written by: Bill Gates
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Bill Gates
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Gates shares what he's learned in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address the problems, and sets out a vision for how the world can build the tools it needs to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Bill Gates explains why he cares so deeply about climate change and what makes him optimistic that the world can avoid the most dire effects of the climate crisis. Gates says, "We can work on a local, national, and global level to build the technologies, businesses, and industries to avoid the worst impacts of climate change."
-
-
Who's this for?
- By SB The Student on 2021-02-21
Written by: Bill Gates
-
The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas
- BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation
- Written by: John le Carré
- Narrated by: full cast, Simon Russell Beale
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The complete collection of acclaimed BBC Radio dramas based on John le Carré's best-selling novels, starring Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley. With a star cast including Kenneth Cranham, Eleanor Bron, Brian Cox, Ian MacDiarmid, Anna Chancellor, Hugh Bonneville and Lindsay Duncan, these enthralling dramatisations perfectly capture the atmosphere of le Carré's taut, thrilling spy novels.
-
-
Spectacular Radioplay Adaptations
- By Langer MD on 2021-08-12
Written by: John le Carré
-
Existentialism and the Authentic Life
- Written by: Skye C. Cleary, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Skye C. Cleary
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 24 fascinating lectures of Existentialism and the Authentic Life, Professor Skye C. Cleary will lead you through the writings of many existentialists to help you understand how they addressed the biggest of all questions. Writing about love, death, sex, war, plagues, intrigue, murder, deception, and more, these thinkers guide you toward living an authentic and meaningful life in a world that often seems absurd.
-
-
Excellent course on Existentialism
- By Nicolas Velasquez on 2024-03-30
Written by: Skye C. Cleary, and others
-
Tripping on Utopia
- Margaret Mead, the Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science
- Written by: Benjamin Breen
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bold and brilliant revisionist take on the history of psychedelics in the twentieth century, illuminating how a culture of experimental drugs shaped the Cold War and the birth of Silicon Valley....
Written by: Benjamin Breen
-
Witchcraft
- A History in Thirteen Trials
- Written by: Marion Gibson
- Narrated by: Rose Akroyd
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Offering a striking, dramatic journey unspooling over centuries and across continents, Witchcraft is a “well-rounded insight into some of the strangest and cruelest moments in history” (Buzz Magazine), giving voice to those who have been silenced by history.
-
-
If you’re curious about witches and their history: it’s a must !!
- By Brenda on 2024-12-09
Written by: Marion Gibson
-
The Singularity Is Near
- When Humans Transcend Biology
- Written by: Ray Kurzweil
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 24 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: The union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our creations.
-
-
Terrible Audio
- By SL on 2024-03-20
Written by: Ray Kurzweil
-
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
- The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
- Written by: Bill Gates
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Bill Gates
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Gates shares what he's learned in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address the problems, and sets out a vision for how the world can build the tools it needs to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Bill Gates explains why he cares so deeply about climate change and what makes him optimistic that the world can avoid the most dire effects of the climate crisis. Gates says, "We can work on a local, national, and global level to build the technologies, businesses, and industries to avoid the worst impacts of climate change."
-
-
Who's this for?
- By SB The Student on 2021-02-21
Written by: Bill Gates
-
The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas
- BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation
- Written by: John le Carré
- Narrated by: full cast, Simon Russell Beale
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The complete collection of acclaimed BBC Radio dramas based on John le Carré's best-selling novels, starring Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley. With a star cast including Kenneth Cranham, Eleanor Bron, Brian Cox, Ian MacDiarmid, Anna Chancellor, Hugh Bonneville and Lindsay Duncan, these enthralling dramatisations perfectly capture the atmosphere of le Carré's taut, thrilling spy novels.
-
-
Spectacular Radioplay Adaptations
- By Langer MD on 2021-08-12
Written by: John le Carré
What the critics say
"Perhaps the best book of its kind that I've ever read. The portrait it provides of Orwell is sharp, nuanced, and moving, and its capsule histories of the major and minor planets in orbit around 1984 are surprising and deeply informative. Above all, it's just flat out fun to read. With The Ministry of Truth, Dorian Lynskey has done anyone who loves literature a great service." (Tom Bissell, author of Apostle and co-author of The Disaster Artist)
“Gaslighting, doublespeak, the horror of a crowd of human ‘gramophones...playing the same tune’ at frenzied rallies where mob and demagogue crescendo together in an orgasm of hate: Orwell saw our future and sent us a time capsule to be opened in case of emergency. That moment is now. Briskly written and brilliantly argued, The Ministry of Truth delves deep into the cultural impact - and terrifying relevance - of a book that, 70 years on, still delivers the jolt of a torturer’s electrodes.” (Mark Dery, author of Born to be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey)
"A deeply researched and highly readable intellectual history, providing a wealth of information and anecdotes about Orwell's life and work. Lynskey skillfully weaves together literary and political histories to create a rich tapestry, full of context, color and insight into one of the most important books of the last century - and thus far, this century as well. The Ministry of Truth is an illuminating and entertaining companion to 1984, a novel whose relevance and necessity are more evident than ever, at a time when the very concept of objective reality is under attack.” (Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe)