When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr Jones and t
ake over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of free
dom and equality. But gradually a cunning, ruthless elite among them, mastermind
ed by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, starts to take control. Soon the other ani
mals discover that they are not all as equal as they thought, and find themselve
s hopelessly ensnared as one form of tyranny is replaced with another. Orwell's
chilling 'fairy story' is a timeless and devastating satire of idealism betrayed
by power and corruption.
