Burmese Days | Timeless Classics

Burmese Days by George Orwell is a dark and searing portrait of British colonialism in 1920s Burma, drawn from the author’s own experiences as a colonial officer.

In the small, suffocating town of Kyauktada, British officials cling to power, privilege, and prejudice. Among them is John Flory, a disillusioned timber merchant caught between his loyalty to empire and his growing contempt for its corruption. As Flory struggles with loneliness and the hope of love, tensions rise—both within the colonial elite and between rulers and the ruled.

Orwell’s first novel, Burmese Days is a haunting critique of imperialism, racism, and moral cowardice. With sharp insight and bleak honesty, it exposes the human cost of empire and the spiritual emptiness behind the facade of colonial “civilization.”