In trench warfare five things are important: firewood, food, tobacco, candles and the enemy. In that order, according to George Orwell.

As far as my high school education is concerned...the one thing that I am most thankful for is that they forced us to read Orwell's 1984. For me, and I imagine for many of our readers, it was the birth of political consciousness. Well, over the years I have reread both 1984 and Animal Farm on several occasions. These 2 books I recommend above all others.

However, I had not started reading Orwell's other books until recently. This weekend I picked up Homage to Catalonia and man am I glad that I did. Little had I known that during the Spanish Civil War, Orwell had gone to Spain to fight the Fascists on the front lines! In this book he tells the gritty true story of one year in a triangular tug-of-war between the Fascists and the Communists and the Anarchists. This book gives a 1984/Animal Farm lover a ton of insight into Orwell's inspiration.

Aside from its literary and historical importance, it is a simply amazing personal story.