{"product_id":"the-duty-to-stand-aside-nineteen-eighty-four-and-the-wartime-quarrel-of-george-orwell-and-alex-comfort-9781849353182","title":"The Duty to Stand Aside: Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Wartime Quarrel of George Orwell and Alex Comfort","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Duty to Stand Aside \u003c\/em\u003etells the story of one of the most intriguing yet little-known literary-political feuds--and friendships--in 20th-century English literature. It examines the arguments that divided George Orwell, future author of \u003cem\u003eAnimal Farm \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eNineteen Eighty-Four\u003c\/em\u003e, and Alex Comfort, poet, biologist, anarchist-pacifist, and future author of the international bestseller \u003cem\u003eThe Joy of Sex--\u003c\/em\u003eduring WWII. Orwell maintained that standing aside, or opposing Britain's war against fascism, was \"objectively pro-fascist.\" Comfort argued that intellectuals who did not stand aside and denounce their own government's atrocities--in Britain's case, saturation bombing of civilian population centers--had \"sacrificed their responsible attitude to humanity.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLater, Comfort and Orwell developed a friendship based on appreciation of each other's work and a common concern about the growing power and penetration of the State--a concern that deeply influenced the writing of \u003cem\u003eNineteen Eighty-Four\u003c\/em\u003e. Shortly before his death in 1950, however, Orwell would accuse Comfort of being \"anti-British\" and \"temperamentally pro-totalitarian\" in a memo he prepared secretly for the Foreign Office--a fact that Comfort, who died in 2000, never knew.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLaursen's book\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003etakes a fresh look at the Orwell-Comfort quarrel and the lessons it holds for our very different world--in which war has been replaced by undeclared \"conflicts,\" civilian bombing is even more enthusiastically practiced, and moral choices between two sides are rarely straightforward.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e AK Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/12\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781849353182\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 180\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 4.90w x 0.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/30\/2018\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Eric Laursen","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36669768859804,"sku":"9781849353182","price":13.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_30c77f8d-3f1b-46ef-9141-353f072f4efa.jpg?v=1603920997","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-duty-to-stand-aside-nineteen-eighty-four-and-the-wartime-quarrel-of-george-orwell-and-alex-comfort-9781849353182","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}