1984 is George Orwell's last book, published in 1949, a year before his death. The dystopian novel glorified the author and remains the gold standard of the genre. The action takes place in London, one of the main cities of the totalitarian superstate of Oceania. A frighteningly detailed depiction of a society based on fear and oppression provides the backdrop for one of the most vivid human stories in world literature. In the center of the plot is the fate of a petty dissident party functionary Winston Smith and his dangerous affair with a colleague. In the USSR, Orwell's book was banned until 1989: probably, the country's party leadership recognized the features of the Soviet system in the social system of Oceania. However, the society described by Orwell is not a copy of the totalitarian regimes known to him. 1984 still reads like an up-to-date commentary on current events. In this book, the novel is presented in a new, modern translation by Leonid Bershidsky.
