Few writers have been more hard-working or prolific than George Orwell: alongside six novels and three books of reportage, he bashed out almost four thousand pages of prose for various print media. When he was perilously ill in hospital in 1947, staff had to confiscate his typewriter to prevent him from working. D J Taylor, the author of some twenty-nine books, is almost as industrious. His latest production, a new life of Orwell, is not entirely new, but is a significant revamp of his award-winning biography of 2003.
