Duty To Stand Aside

The Duty to Stand Aside tells the story of one of the most intriguing yet little-known literary-political feuds—and friendships—in 20th-century English literature. It examines the arguments that divided George Orwell, future author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Alex Comfort, poet, biologist, anarchist-pacifist, and future author of the international bestseller The Joy of Sex—during WWII. Orwell maintained that standing aside, or opposing Britain’s war against fascism, was “objectively pro-fascist." Comfort argued that intellectuals who did not stand aside and denounce their own government’s atrocities—in Britain’s case, saturation bombing of civilian population centers—had “sacrificed their responsible attitude to humanity.”

Later, Comfort and Orwell developed a friendship based on appreciation of each other’s work and a common concern about the growing power and penetration of the State—a concern that deeply influenced the writing of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Shortly before his death in 1950, however, Orwell would accuse Comfort of being “anti-British” and “temperamentally pro-totalitarian” in a memo he prepared secretly for the Foreign Office—a fact that Comfort, who died in 2000, never knew.

Laursen’s book takes a fresh look at the Orwell-Comfort quarrel and the lessons it holds for our very different world—in which war has been replaced by undeclared “conflicts,” civilian bombing is even more enthusiastically practiced, and moral choices between two sides are rarely straightforward.

A fascinating study of two remarkable twentieth century figures confronting perennial questions about war and the state. With great insight, Laursen examines the complex interactions of Alex Comfort and George Orwell, their milieus, the agonizing issues that consumed their generation and that cast a grim shadow over what has ensued.” —Noam Chomsky

"In this revealing, well-written study, Eric Laursen demonstrates convincingly that two of Britain's most prominent intellectuals of the 20th century, George Orwell and Alex Comfort, despite their political differences, shared the fear that even democratic nations could degenerate into totalitarian barbarism." —Lawrence S. Wittner, author of The Struggle against the Bomb

Datoria de a sta deoparte spune povestea unuia dintre cele mai interesante, dar putin cunoscute feude literare-politice - si prietenii - din literatura engleza din secolul al XX-lea. Acesta examineaza argumentele care i-au impartit pe George Orwell, viitor autor al Animal Farm si Nineteen Eighty-Four, si Alex Comfort, poet, biolog, anarhist-pacifist si viitor autor al bestsellerului international The Joy of Sex - in timpul celui de-al doilea razboi mondial.