George Orwell's novel Animal Farm was first published in 1945.
Animal Farm is a political satire in which farm animals overthrow their human owner and establish a revolutionary society. The pigs gradually take control, and the farm's original ideals are replaced by hierarchy, propaganda, and authoritarian rule. Orwell's fable reflects the betrayal of revolutionary principles associated with the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.
The book was published in Britain on 17 August 1945 by Secker and Warburg. Wartime political circumstances had delayed publication: several publishers initially rejected it, partly because the allegory criticized the Soviet government, then an ally of Britain during World War II.
Animal Farm is often paired with Nineteen Eighty-Four because both works examine propaganda and political control. Their publication dates differ: Animal Farm appeared in 1945, while Nineteen Eighty-Four followed in 1949.