All Propaganda is Lies
1941-1942

In August, 1941, George Orwell joined the BBC's Overseas Service. This volume contains some of the work he produced as Talks Producer responsible for features, talks and commentaries on the war, to be broadcast to India. Orwell read 56 of the 220 news commentaries he wrote.

On 18 August 1941 Orwell joined the BBC's Overseas Service. After a crash training course (the documents for which are reproduced here), he was appointed a Talks Producer responsible for features, talks, and commentaries on the war, to be broadcast to India. He wrote at least 220 news commentaries for, and broadcast to, India and occupied Malaya and Indonesia, of which Orwell read fifty-six. This volume shows that formal censorship was not as great a problem as has been supposed, though it obviously occurred and Orwell's brushes with censors are shown in detail. Along with Volumes XIV and XV, Volume XIII shows the enormous efforts he made to disseminate culture rather than crude propaganda. It is in this volume that the origins of 'Room 101' are to be found; it has examples of his first 'courses' for Indian university students - the forerunner of the Open University; the first issue of his broadcast poetry magazine, 'Voice'; and a number of his own broadcasts, including 'The Re-discovery of Europe'. He continued to review, to write essays, and to contribute to Partisan Review and he was still active in the Home Guard.