Ministries of Nineteen Eighty-Four understood to mean statements like when the situation warrants. In keeping with the concept of doublethink, the ministry is thus aptly named in that it creates/manufactures "truth" in the Newspeak sense of the word. The book describes the doctoring of historical records to show a government-approved version of events. Winston Smith, the main character of "Nineteen Eighty-Four", works at the Ministry of Truth. It is an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete rising 300 metres (980 ft) into the air, containing over 3000 rooms above ground. On the outside wall are the three slogans of the Party: "WAR IS
Nineteen Eighty-Four defenders previously proposed in "Homage to Catalonia" (1938) and "Animal Farm" (1945), while "Coming Up for Air" (1939) celebrates the personal and political freedoms lost in "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1949). Biographer Michael Shelden notes Orwell's Edwardian childhood at Henley-on-Thames as the golden country; being bullied at St Cyprian's School as his empathy with victims; his life in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma and the techniques of violence and censorship in the BBC as capricious authority. Other influences include "Darkness at Noon" (1940) and "The Yogi and the Commissar" (1945) by Arthur Koestler; "The Iron Heel "(1908) by Jack London; "1920: