What is Animal Farm?
{{italic title}} '''''Animal Farm''''' is a short novel by [[George Orwell]]. It was written during [[World War II]] and [[publication|published]] in 1945. It is about a group of farm [[animal]]s who [[rebellion|rebel]] against their farmer. They hope to create a place where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. In the end, however, they are betrayed and the farm ends up as bad it was before. The story is an [[allegory]], meaning that the author wanted it to represent real life events. It is one of the most famous allegories about [[Politics|political]] events.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6595 |title=Literary Encyclopedia: Animal Farm |work=litencyc.com |access-date=3 September 2010}}</ref> It is based on [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[betrayal]] of the [[Russian Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/25714/Animal-Farm |title=Animal Farm (novel by Orwell) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia |encyclopedia=britannica.com |access-date=3 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/orwell_george.shtml |title=BBC - History - Historic Figures: George Orwell (1903 - 1950) |work=bbc.co.uk |access-date=3 September 2010}}</ref> [[File:Animal Farm - 1st edition.jpg|thumb|Animal Farm by George Orwell]] Although rejected by several publishers, when published it became a best-seller. ''Animal Farm'' is one of Orwell's two best-known books (the other is ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'') and is widely viewed as a [[wikt:classic|classic]]. ''Time'' magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels (1923 to 2005).<ref>Grossman, Lev & Lacayo Richard (16 October 2005). All-Time 100 Novels. ''TIME magazine''. [http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/]</ref> it also featured at number 31 on the [[Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels]]. It won a Retrospective [[Hugo Award]] in 1996, and is included in the [[Great Books of the Western World]] selection. ==