From Paris to London in the Interwar period. George Orwell experiences absolute poverty and destitution. He goes hungry for several days; works in cellars under miserable conditions for mere pennies; learns to live, sleep, and smoke on half a crown a day; gathers cigarette butts from the sidewalks; survives on “tea and two slices of bread”; sleeps on the floor with only his shoes as a pillow, on benches and in homeless shelters.

Together with Paddy, the vagabond, and Bozo, a street painter, he wanders from shelter to shelter in the alleys of London. Meanwhile, with Boris, a former Russian lieutenant, they roam Paris looking for work and even pawning their clothes to secure a little food.

In this groundbreaking book, published in 1933, Orwell describes and experiences the world of the outcasts, whose concerns and issues take a back seat as the securing of food and shelter becomes their sole pursuit. The author brings to light a previously overlooked social group and for the first time gives face and voice to poverty.

This book, in which Orwell made his debut, is written with humor and sharpness, provoking thought with its timeliness.