Justin,
I think in the context of the time it is not correct to call Orwell an "anti-Communist". Given the fact that he fought for a (small "c") communist group, during the course of the Spanish Civil War. He joined the P.O.U.M., which was led by Andres Nin, who during part of the Spanish Civil War/ Revolution was part of the Trotsky inspired "Fourth International". The P.O.U.M. considered itself a communist group, and I think Nin considered himself a communist up until his death. It is true that the P.O.U.M. was was opposed politically to the Spanish Communist Party. As you probably know POUM had a rather stormy relationship with Trotsky, and Trotsky would break with the P.O.U.M. in the midst of the Spanish Civil War/Revolution. Still most of the Stalin directed CPers considered the P.O.U.M. a "Trotskyite" party and treated their members accordingly.
Perhaps you mean, to confine the phrase anti-Communist to (capital "C") anti-Stalinist Communist party. But I think it does the historical record harm, and is forgetful to history, to use the phrase "staunch anti-Communist" in the context of Orwell's joining of the P.O.U.M.'smilitia.
"Homage to Catalonia" is well worth reading if only because it is a document that attempts to provide an eyewitness to revolutionary attempts to run a small part of Catalonia democratically, and it also documents how the Stalin directed Communist Parties destroyed so many revolutionary hopes through murder and atrocity. At leas this was Orwell's point of view in "Homage."
Jerry -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20060714/44c45bc2/attachment.htm>