Eric Arthur Blair 25 June 1903 - 21 January 1950, known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. As a writer, Orwell produced literary criticism and poetry, fiction and polemical journalism, and is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm 1945 and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four 1949. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier 1937, documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia 1938, an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture.