8vo (184 mm x 121 mm). 2 ff., 84 pp. Bound in publisher's original green cloth with spine lettered in white with original dustjacket, in a custom clamshell box. Toning to edges of cloth binding, chip to crown of spine and light wear at extremities, but overall a much nicer than average survival of the jacket. Interiors generally clean with just a few points of foxing.

Orwell set his political allegory on a farm in which the animals revolt against their human farmer and aim to create a society based on equality and prosperity. Led by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, they initially band together to abolish human exploitation, however the revolution degenerates into a tyranny as brutal as the one it replaced. The narrative explores themes of power, corruption, and betrayal, illustrating how easily the principles of a revolution can be corrupted by those in power. The story serves as a critique of totalitarian regimes, particularly Soviet Russia, and the corrupting influence of power, encapsulated in the maxim, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

"Animal Farm, which owes something to Swift and Defoe, is his masterpiece, the best fable in the language with Boxer the cart-horse, the pigs and the donkey becoming household words." (Connelly). The imprint of the first impression reads "May 1945", though publication was delayed until August due to wartime paper shortages.