Shooting an Elephant' is George Orwell's harrowing and excruciatingly honest account of his time as a police officer in imperial Burma, where he was forced to kill a fugitive elephant in front of a crowd'solely to avoid looking a fool.' Classics like 'My Country Right or Left, ' 'How the Poor Die, ' and 'Such, Such were the Joys, ' his memoir of the horrors of public school, as well as discussions of Shakespeare, sleeping rough, boys' weeklies, and a spirited defence of English cooking, are among the other masterful essays in this collection. Opinionated, outspoken, controversial, and tremendously entertaining, Orwell's writings demonstrate his singular ability to get to the heart of any issue.