Animal Farm

By: Orwell, George

Animal Farm is one of the most famous warnings ever written. Orwell's immortal satire - 'against Stalin' as he wrote to his French translator - can be read on many levels. With its piercing clarity and deceptively simple style it is no surprise that this novel is required reading for schoolchildren and politicians alike. This fable of the steadfast horses Boxer and Clover, the opportunistic pigs Snowball and Napoleon, and the deafening choir of sheep remains an unparalleled masterpiece.

One reviewer wrote 'In a hundred years' time perhaps Animal Farm ... may simply be a fairy story: today it is a fairy story with a good deal of point.' Over sixty years on in the age of spin, it is more relevant than ever.

Rejected by such eminent publishing figures as Victor Gollancz, Jonathan Cape and T.S. Eliot, Animal Farm was published to great acclaim by Martin Secker and Warburg on 17 August 1945 in an edition of 4500 copies. In the centenary year of Martin Secker, Ltd., Harvill Secker is proud to publish this special edition with a brand-new introduction by Christopher Hitchens.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1784878987
• ISBN13: 9781784878986
• Release Date: April 2025
• Publisher: Vintage Classics
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.

Customer Reviews

No animal may drink alcohol "to excess"

A fairy tale or a nightmare? It all began with a dream by Major, a Middle White boar, of equality and freedom from oppression. Maybe not in our life, comrade, but eventually. The dream brings a song. Intolerable conditions lead to revolution. As time passes, things change; not exactly as planned. Two striking parts of this tale stand out. First, when Boxer is sent to the hospital and Benjamin reads the side of the van, "Horse Slaughterer." Secondly, there was a party in the farmhouse as the pigs were playing cards with the men, and two aces of spades showed up. An argument ensues. Then the creatures outside looked in as they "...looked from pig to man and man to pig, and from pig to man again drew a realization..."