Animal Farm - George Orwell

George Orwell’s celebrated novella, Animal Farm, is a biting, allegorical, political satire on totalitarianism in general and Stalinism in particular. One of the most famous works in modern English literature, it is a telling comment on Soviet Russia under Stalin’s brutal dictatorship based on a cult of personality which was enforced through a reign of terror.

The book tells a seemingly simple story of farm animals who rebel against their master in the hope of stopping their exploitation at the hand of humans and creating a society where animals would be equal, free and happy. Ultimately, however, the rebellion is betrayed and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before. The novel thus demonstrates how easily good intentions can be subverted into tyranny.

Orwell has himself said that it was the first book in which he had tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, ‘to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole.’ The book was first published in England in 1945, and has since then remained a favourite with readers all over the world, and has consistently been included in all prestigious bestseller lists for the past many years.