George Orwell published his book Animal Farm in 1945 as an allegory for the political history of the Soviet Union. It's been used ever since then in schools, although not always smoothly. I read it for a junior high English class, which was not coordinated with our history class, as we never studied the USSR at all. World history class never even made it to the 20th century. But Animal Farm has a history of its own, including being shunned by Second World nations.
5. The Soviet Union banned Animal Farm until the Cold War was almost over.
In 1988, as Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost policy liberalized the USSR, a Latvian journal called Rodnik published Animal Farm in four installments. The Russian government newspaper Izvestia printed an excerpt later that year, saying: “It is good that the prose of this great English writer reaches our readers, albeit late.”
6. Many other governments have banned Animal Farm.
Beyond the Soviet Union, Animal Farm has also been banned at various times in countries like Cuba (where the book was set on fire by the government), North Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and countries in Africa. In Malawi, government minister Albert Muwalo was charged with treason and hanged in 1977; one alleged piece of evidence was his ownership of Animal Farm, a banned book. And in 1991, Kenya’s government banned a Swahili-language play based on Animal Farm that attacked corruption.
Read the rest of the ten facts about Animal Farm at Mental Floss.
(Image credit: Coentor)
but go ahead and vote democrat and they'll be burning that book too