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Born in Bengal of an Anglo-Indian family, Orwell was a scholarship student at Eton (where he "learned as nearly as possible nothing"), served for five years in Burma as a member of the Indian Imperial Police, fought and was severely wounded in the Spanish Civil War as a member of the P.O.U.M. militia (the loose organization of anti-Stalinist leftists which was fiercely attacked by the Communists).
Says Orwell: "What I saw in Spain and what I have seen since of the inner workings of left-wing political parties has given me a horror of politics. ... In sentiment I am definitely 'left,' but I believe that a writer can remain honest only if he keeps free of party labels."
< FOOTNOTE>†Secker & Warbury (London): 65