George OrwellHomage to CataloniaPublished by Harvest books (New York) in June 1969, 264 pagesBook review of Homage to CataloniaGeorge Orwell, a well-known writer and journalist, arrived in Barcelona, ​​Spain eventually of 1936 to cover the fight against fascism. Being an avid supporter of socialism, he was amazed to see the small glimpse of socialism in action. He was intrigued to say the least by the classless society he observed there. Barcelona, ​​Spain, was at that time held under anarchist control, and as such most of the rituals of the old class society were abandoned: tips, titles, and the old divisions between rich and poor had virtually disappeared. Everyone was equal in this new society and most of the wealthy aristocrats had fled or gone into hiding. This being the truest form of socialism and brotherhood that Orwell had ever witnessed, he put down his pen and took up arms. Homage to Catalonia, which Orwell later wrote after fleeing to France in 1937, gives his account as a militiaman in the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista) militia, which roughly translates to Workers' Party of Marxist Unification. At the time this was one of many anti-fascist factions in Spain, he later observes joining the POUM with blissfully unaware of what the difference was between each of them. In the book's opening chapters he describes daily activities as a front-line militiaman near Barcelona, ​​usually these war accounts were more comical than eventful. I especially noticed his accounts of the actions of the Spanish militiamen during the war. He often revered the Spaniards for their friendliness and amiability, but was often enraged by their careless ignorance of war, and even said in the first chapter that the Spaniards are good at many things but not at waging war. He also talks about the limited ammunition and rifles he received. The rifles usually dated from the late 19th century, and the sights, rifling, and condition of the weapons were so poor that they were more of a hassle to carry than to have. Before heading to the front they received almost no training and most of their fellow militiamen barely knew how to shoot a rifle. He recalls an event where he was photographing several Spaniards standing next to a machine gun that fired at him as a joke. Only by the luck of their horrible aim did he remain completely unharmed.