Decline of the English Murder

Your pipe is drawing sweetly, the sofa cushions are soft underneath you, the fire is well alight, the air is warm and stagnant. In these blissful circumstances, what is it that you want to read about? Naturally, about a murder.

In these timeless and witty essays, George Orwell explores the English love of reading about a good murder in the papers (and laments the passing of the heyday of the 'perfect' murder involving class, sex, and poisoning). He also unfolds his trenchant views on everything from boys' weeklies to naughty seaside postcards.

About Decline of the English Murder

In Decline of the English Murder, the tenth installment in Orwell's Essays series, Orwell examines:

• The kinds of murders portrayed in the media.
• Why exactly people enjoy reading about them.