When the Middle White Boar, Old Major, dies after his empowering speech to the other animals, they decide to trust his guidance and wisdom of equality for all animals and make a plan to take control of Manor Farm from their farmer Mr. Jones. They carry out their plan and their rebellion drive Mr. Jones and his wife out of the farm, and the animals decide to change the name to Animal Farm and create The 7 Commandments for their principals of Animalism with the main goal of equality amongst the all animals. But as their fair and blissful lives commence, and Napoleon and Snowball compete for leadership among the farm, tension builds up and so-called Animalism may not be what they thought. The work days become long and the windmill is far from being done. Unexpected changes arise and Old Major’s original and inspiring ideas seem to be forgotten...

Although Animal Farm may not be my first choice of a book, it does have much history behind the pages.  Animal farm is based off of Russia and the Soviet Union under the rule of the Communist Party and the reign of Joseph Stalin. Each character in this book represents one or more people during the Russian Revolution. It also includes Pravda (Squealer in Animal Farm), Germany and Adolf Hitler (Pinchfield Farm and Mr. Frederick), Communism (Animalism), the Kremlin (the farmhouse), and many other real-life to book representations.

This  historic novel that will keep you reading and eager to find out what’s going to happen next. It’s a creative and inspiring book to read if you’re intrigued by Russian history, or if you would like to read a book that has easy-to-understand English literature. George Orwell captures the lifestyle of those in Russia during the 1920s through to the 1940s and telling the history in a very uncomplicated and informational way.

I would recommend this fictional retelling of the Russian Revolution to all ages above 11 and to anyone who enjoys classic novels and the history of Russia during the Communist era. If you enjoyed Animal Farm, I would recommend another bestseller of George Orwell’s, 1984, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.