20th Century Nineteen Eighty Four

Although Winston has no tangible power, his position in the totalitarian society of Oceania is to be envied. After all, he has knowledge of the government's thought control processes - and knowledge in his world is a valuable and inaccessible commodity. This isn't something that occurs to him, until he meets the beautiful and tempting Julia and begins wanting a small slice of freedom from Big Brother's ubiquitous gaze. George Orwell's 1984 is a nightmarish tale of powerlessness and tyranny. Not only is this a frightening warning of what could happen, this novel also introduced words such as 'newspeak', 'doublethink' and 'thoughtcrime' into our vocabulary.