George Orwell · 1933 · overland

George Orwell's 1933 first book, a memoir of his time living in genuine poverty in two great cities, washing dishes in Paris and tramping the streets and doss-houses of London. Sharp, humane and quietly furious about how the poor are treated, it is reportage that reads like a novel. More a tale of two cities than a single journey, mapped as the crossing from Paris to the roads around London.

1. 1
   Paris

   In the slums of Paris, the young Orwell sinks into real poverty, pawning his clothes and labouring as a plongeur in the steaming hell of the hotel kitchens.

2. 2
   Calais

   Down to the Channel coast at Calais.

3. 3
   Dover

   Across the Strait to Dover and into England.

4. 4
   London

   He crosses to London expecting work, only to find himself penniless and adrift, learning the secret geography of the destitute.

5. 5
   The Casual Wards

   Tramping the roads around London from one grim casual ward to the next, among the beggars and down-and-outs whose lives he records with unsentimental clarity.