A question for every American who read George Orwell in high school, and may still read him now: In a perpetual war on terror, where war is peace and peace might be war, are we now living in an Orwellian era?

Before you answer too quickly, is it American propaganda, or Al Qaeda’s, or neither that mimics the doublethink of 1984? Is “Animal Farm” in the West Bank or Saddam’s Baghdad or in your own backyard?

Orwell hated imperialism. Orwell hated Stalinism. Orwell hated oppression. British journalist Christopher Hitchens has come out with a new hymn of praise to the author of “Burmese Days,” of “Down and Out in Paris and London,” of “To Shoot an Elephant.” George Orwell, he says, deserves a reading like no other 20th century writer.

Guests:

Christopher Hitchens, author of “Why Orwell Matters”

Amity Shlaes, tonight’s On Point news analyst and a senior columnist for The Financial Times