Product Description

Having got rid of their human master, the animals of Manor Farm look forward to a life of freedom and plenty. But as a clever, ruthless elite among them takes control, the other animals find themselves hopelessly ensnared in the old ways. Orwell's chilling story of the betrayal of idealism through tyranny and corruption, is as fresh and relevant today as when it was first published in 1945.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8937 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Review
Well-written, thought-provoking, funny and above all short, it is considered perfect for the attention span of the MTV generation. For those who have yet to have the pleasure it is a satire on Stalinism in which animals take over a farm. Inspired by the vision of the prize boar Old Major, the animals of Manor Farm rebel against their human masters and establish a model democratic community in which 'all animals are equal'. But power corrupts, and gradually the dictator pig, Napoleon, betrays the animals back into slavery. ('All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.') (Kirkus UK)

A modern day fable, with modern implications in a deceiving simplicity, by the author of Dickens. Dali and Others (Reynal & Hitchcock, p. 138), whose critical brilliance is well adapted to this type of satire. This tells of the revolt on a farm, against humans, when the pigs take over the intellectual superiority, training the horses, cows, sheep, etc., into acknowledging their greatness. The first hints come with the reading out of a pig who instigated the building of a windmill, so that the electric power would be theirs, the idea taken over by Napoleon who becomes topman with no maybes about it. Napoleon trains the young puppies to be his guards, dickers with humans, gradually instigates a reign of terror, and breaks the final commandment against any animal walking on two legs. The old faithful followers find themselves no better off for food and work than they were when man ruled them, learn their final disgrace when they see Napoleon and Squealer carousing with their enemies... A basic statement of the evils of dictatorship in that it not only corrupts the leaders, but deadens the intelligence and awareness of those led so that tyranny is inevitable. Mr. Orwell's animals exist in their own right, with a narrative as individual as it is apt in political parody. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author
George Orwell, real name Eric Blair, was born in 1903 in Bengal. He served with the Indian Imperial Police, and later came to Europe, doing a series of ill-paid jobs which led to his writing Down and Out in Paris and London. He fought in the Spanish Civil War for the Republicans, but in later years became disillusioned with the aims of Communism, which led to the writing of his two most famous political satires Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four, which were immensely popular. He died in 1950.