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Churchill and Orwell finished

A fine book.  Orwell reaches his peak with Animal Farm and then 1984, his last two books before dying of TB.  His reputation and influence grow after his death worldwide.  His books transcend the criticism of USSR to become a criticism of all state totalitarianism. Predicts modern world where "truth" becomes something politicians believe they can bend. Predicts constant war on the edges being used as a reason for constant picking away at individual liberty.

Churchill's end is, on the other hand, a decline.  His history of WWII drops off after the first two volumes. Succeeding volumes become "factory" books. Researchers and other writers take the main stage; he checks over and makes improvements -- when so inclined.  He becomes PM one more time, but is ineffective.  When he dies, LBJ does not attend his funeral, probably because Churchill did not attend the funeral of FDR.

Both Orwell and Churchill share a belief in language as a means to truth; both are appalled by the misuse of language to hide truth and see this undermining of objective truth as the main danger facing the modern world.  Hard to disagree in the age of "fake news." 

Straightforward, clear-eyed descriptions of the fact on hand is a brave act, and a subversive one, when the state bases its actions on lies.

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