George Orwell's Animal Farm is one the author's most read texts (1984 being the other). Animal Farm is Orwell's allegorical and satirical novella which tells the tale of farm animals who overtake their human owner and learn about the problems associated with the misuse of power. While never crediting another with this work, Orwell did publish the work under his pen name (which is George Orwell). Orwell's birth name was Eric Arthur Blair. As an essayist, Orwell did consider publishing the story of Animal Farm as a pamphlet (as noted in the eNotes Animal Farm Study Guide).