X-Nico

Second Thoughts on James Burnham

He believed Burnham was fascinated by power and was sympathetic to Nazi Germany while they appeared to be winning, but by 1945 had transferred his sympathy to the USSR He noted however that the theme of a new (and probably servile) society – neither capitalist nor socialist – was predicted in many works such as Belloc's The Servile State, and dystopian novels such as Wells' The Sleeper Awakes,Zamyatin's We and Huxley's Brave New World.

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Michael Shelden saw Burnham's work and Orwell's analysis as having an influence on his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

see also