I first read 1984 during my lunch break at my first job at the BBC World Service, in wonderful Bush House. When Orwell described the grotty Ministry of Truth canteen it felt remarkably like the one I was sitting in. Later learned that was no coincidence.
Dave Lee
a lot of 1984 is just about the UK in 1948: still on "wartime" rationing w/no end in sight, reduced from an empire to an outpost of american hegemony useful mostly as an airbase, abruptly enemies with a state that had been an ally in a v recent existential war, etc
Josh Fruhlinger
One of the most interesting interpretations of 1984, and somewhat supported by comments by Orwell, is that the rest of the world is normal and Britain was just, sort of, like that
Britain should not be allowed to trade with the rest of the world until it fixes its shit
