Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

The world of 1984 is one in which eternal warfare is the price of bleak prosperity, in which the Party keeps itself in power by complete control over man's actions and his thoughts. As the lovers Winston Smith and Julia learn when they try to evade the Thought Police, and then join the underground opposition, the Party can smash the last impulse of love, the last flicker of individuality. But let the reader beware: 1984 is more than a satire of totalitarian barbarism. It is not merely a political novel but also a diagnosis of the deepest alienation in the mind of Organization Man. Includes an Afterword by Erich Fromm.