As long as we're adding books to a dystopian-novel reading list, consider That Hideous Strength - a sort of spiritual prequel to 1984 describing the gradual ris

As long as we're adding books to a dystopian-novel reading list, consider That Hideous Strength - a sort of spiritual prequel to 1984 describing the gradual rise of such a regime. It also might be the last major work in the genre before the atomic bomb, and predates 1984. It's a transitional work, which is both interesting and a source of its limitations -- I'll leave you with Orwell's book review to detail its strengths and weaknesses which should get you an idea: http://www.lewisiana.nl/orwell/ http://www.lewisiana.nl/orwell/ You can also consider Chesterton's The Man who Would Be Thursday, referenced in that review as well.