Animal Farm

George Orwell’s Animal Farm, published in 1945, is a short but devastating political allegory set on Manor Farm, where animals led by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball overthrow their human master to establish an egalitarian society. However, the revolution quickly degenerates as the pigs consolidate power, rewrite history, and exploit the other animals culminating in the chilling conclusion that all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. Orwell drew directly from the events of the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist betrayal of socialist ideals, creating a fable that applies to revolutions and power grabs throughout history. One of the most perfectly constructed satirical works in the English language.