<P> Immediately prior to writing the book, Orwell had quit the BBC . He was also upset about a booklet for propagandists the Ministry of Information had put out . The booklet included instructions on how to quell ideological fears of the Soviet Union, such as directions to claim that the Red Terror was a figment of Nazi imagination . </P> <P> In the preface, Orwell also described the source of the idea of setting the book on a farm: </P> <P>... I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge carthorse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn . It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat . </P> <P> Orwell initially encountered difficulty getting the manuscript published, largely due to fears that the book might upset the alliance between Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union . Four publishers refused; one had initially accepted the work but declined it after consulting the Ministry of Information . Eventually, Secker and Warburg published the first edition in 1945 . </P>

Who said all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others