Adam Biles’s novel Beasts of England takes the farm from George Orwell’s Animal Farm and moves it into the present day. Its Manor Farm has become a premium petting zoo for human visitors, and its animals contend with rigged elections, factional fights, changing mottos and a mysterious deadly illness. The publisher presents the book as an update and subversion of Orwell’s classic, aimed at populist politics in the Internet age.
What the book is and where it comes from
Beasts of England is a satirical novel by Adam Biles. Scroll.in published an excerpt from it on 27 September 2023, and the Pan Macmillan and Pan Macmillan India publisher pages list the first editions for September and October 2023. The title refers to the anthem that opens Orwell’s book, which the new novel uses as a point of reference for its own farm and its own politics.
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Animal Farm: 75th Anniversary Edition (Signet Classics) | $6.61 | Buy on Amazon |
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Animal Farm: (English Edition) | $4.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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Animal Farm (Wordsworth Collector's Edition) | $15.99 | Buy on Amazon |
From working farm to petting zoo
Orwell’s farm is a working farm, and its politics grow out of labour and control of food. Biles moves the setting to a farm that now earns its keep from visitors. The excerpt published by Scroll.in opens with the animals gathering at the Big Barn, a new information centre and gift shop. Among the things the farm sells, the excerpt mentions:
- maps of the farm;
- “Manor Pounds”;
- scale models of the farm’s windmill.
Buttercup, Manor Farm’s “First Beast”, addresses the gathering and lists the reforms and accomplishments of the leadership. These are claims made inside the fiction. They are not real-world statistics, and the excerpt does not verify them.
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- Author: George Orwell.
- Publisher: Signet
- Pages: 140
- Publication Date: 1996
- Edition: 50th Anniversary
How the novel relates to Orwell
The publisher’s description says Biles “honours, updates and subverts” Orwell’s classic. Those three verbs describe different relationships. Honouring means keeping the original’s architecture: a farm, animals who take over, and a leadership that reshapes its own slogans. Updating means changing the material conditions, which is where the petting zoo matters. Subverting means turning the original’s central lessons against themselves. Whether the book achieves each of these is a judgement for readers, and the excerpt supports only the first two.
The most visible change is economic. In Orwell’s book the farm’s productive labour is the engine of the story. In Biles’s book the farm sells the experience of watching animals, so the question of who controls the story becomes a question of who controls the public image.
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Political themes in the publisher’s synopsis
The publisher’s synopsis identifies four plot elements:
- rigged elections;
- factional conflict among the animals;
- changing mottos;
- a mysterious deadly illness.
The publisher ties these to populist politics and the “chaotic, fragmentary nature” of political communication in the Internet age. The synopsis does not spell out how each element maps onto real political events, so readers should treat any specific parallel as their own interpretation.
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The publisher’s page includes the following statements. Each is attributed to the person named, and none is a quotation from the author.
- Hari Kunzru: “A sly, topical updating of Orwell for the twenty-first century.”
- Guardian reviewer Patrick McGuinness, as quoted on the publisher’s page: “Biles knows that today’s post-truth world is very different from its 1940s incarnation – indeed, his ability to exploit similarities without implying false equivalences is part of what makes Beasts of England so historically and politically literate, as well as entertaining.”
McGuinness’s point is useful for readers deciding whether the book is a parody or a commentary. He argues that the novel does not treat today’s politics as a copy of the 1940s. It draws comparisons while keeping the differences in view.
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Editions and how to match them
Three edition records are relevant. They differ in publisher, format and identifier, so match the ISBN to the edition and region you want before you buy.
| Edition | Publisher or imprint | Date listed | Format and length | ISBN | Region evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback | Picador India, listed on Pan Macmillan India’s site | 3 October 2023 | Pages not stated | 9788119300099 | India (Pan Macmillan India listing) |
| Ebook | Pan Macmillan India imprint, listed on the Pan Macmillan international page | 20 September 2023 | Ebook, 288 pages | 9788119300105 | International page; no further region stated |
| Galley Beggar Press Limited, per WorldCat catalogue record | 2023 (day and month not stated) | Print; pages not stated | 9781913111458 | Not stated |
Before buying:
- Search by ISBN, not just by title, because the paperback and ebook listings carry different identifiers.
- Check the listed region and the seller’s shipping area, since the Indian paperback and the international ebook appear on separate publisher pages.
- Confirm current availability and price directly with the seller. The sources used here establish the edition records but do not establish current stock or prices.
Who the book suits
Readers who know Animal Farm will get the most from Beasts of England, because the novel depends on the original’s structure and on the reader noticing where it departs. The petting-zoo setting and the leadership politics are the strongest links to contemporary life, while the excerpt gives less evidence about how the story resolves. Readers who have not read Orwell can still follow the satire, but they will miss much of its pointed updating.
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