Good review.

Interesting how we were wrong about 1984 being the truly prophetic work; in retrospect, Brave New World took the biscuit. It's also more subtle - I'd argue more realistic - in the part that exposes the hidden hand. Compare Mustapha Mond in chapter 16 to O'Brien in Part 3...

Of course, George Orwell did not write his book as a prophecy. In one of his more famous essays, he explained why he frowned on augur-reading:

http://orwell.ru/library/reviews/burnham/english/e_burnh.html

Interestingly, that essay was George Orwell's boot-out of James Burnham. At the time, Burnham was a well-known Trotskyite. Do you know where he ended up? As a heavyweight for he American magazine National Review!

Go figure...