British · 1903–1950
George Orwell wrote two of the twentieth century's most influential political novels and then died before seeing their impact. "Animal Farm" and "1984"—published in 1945 and 1949—provided the vocabulary for discussing totalitarianism: Big Brother, thoughtcrime, doublethink, "all animals are equal." The British writer, born Eric Blair, also produced journalism and essays that modeled clear prose in service of clear thinking. Orwell's rules for writing—"never use a long word where a short one will do"—influenced nonfiction as much as his novels shaped fiction.