In 1943, there was an urgent need for "Animal Farm". The Soviet Union had become an ally of Britain in the war against Nazi Germany, and criticism of Stalin's grim regime was either censored or discouraged. Many intellectuals on the left continued to support the Soviet Union, claiming that the horrors of its trials, executions, and secret police were exaggerated or necessary. However, for Orwell, Stalin was always a “disgusting murderer” and he wanted to remind people of this in a compelling and memorable way.
How to do it? A political essay would not reach a wide enough audience, a traditional novella would take too long to write. Orwell came up with the inspired idea to combine the moral of the traditional “animal fable” with the satire of "Gulliver’s Travels". A group of anthropomorphic animals, led by pigs, overthrows their human masters. They revolt under the inspiration of lofty ideals: the farm will be run for the benefit of its animals, with no more slaughter, plenty of food for all, and comfort in retirement. But when the pig Napoleon takes power, he quickly corrupts their principles, creating a new tyranny worse than the old one.
Orwell wrote "Animal Farm" in the middle of the Second World War, but at first, no publisher wanted to publish it. It was finally published in August 1945, just after the war ended. This little book quickly became a defining text in the emerging ‘Cold War’ (a phrase invented by Orwell himself). It also became a field of this conflict, suffering various attempts to undermine or change its meaning.
Today, "Animal Farm" remains a powerful parable about the nature of tyranny and corruption applicable to all ages.
Our edition also includes the following essays: "Shooting an Elephant"; "Charles Dickens"; "Inside the Whale"; "The Frontiers of Art and Propaganda"; "Literature and Totalitarianism"; "Fascism and Democracy"; "Patriots and Revolutionaries"; "Catastrophic Gradualism"; "Some Thoughts on the Common Toad"; "Why I Write"; "Writers and Leviathan".
Pages: 256, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm
