The Crystal Spirit, George Woodcock's intellectual biography of George Orwell, won the 1966 Governor General's Award for non-fiction. In this book he turns his attention to 1984, the novel which expresses Orwell's fears for the future, and his exhortations against totalitarianism.

First-hand experience with twentieth-century politics combines with extensive knowledge of history and literature to give Woodcock's writing authority and immediacy. His ten-year friendship with George Orwell adds a personal tone to this work of criticism, biography, political history, and current events.