Shooting an Elephant" is Orwell's searing & painfully honest account of his experience as a police officer in imperial Burma; killing an escaped elephant in front of a crowd 'solely to avoid looking a fool'. The other masterly essays in this collection include classics such as " My Country Right or Left" " How the Poor Die" & " Such Such were the Joys" his memoir of the horrors of public school as well as discussions of Shakespeare sleeping rough boys' weeklies & a spirited defence of English cooking. Opinionated uncompromising provocative & hugely entertaining all show Orwell's unique ability to get to the heart of any subject."