- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (27 Sep 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140621490
- ISBN-13: 978-0140621495
- Product Dimensions: 18 x 1.5 x 11.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 287,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Black Beauty begins life in a loving home. But his owners are forced to sell him, and Black Beauty's fortunes change. He is moved from place to place and job to job, often suffering cruel treatment and harsh conditions - until a chance encounter leads to a new turn of events.
About the Author
Anna Sewell (1820 – 1878) was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. When she was about fourteen, she sprained her ankle and it was treated badly. That, and a bone disease, meant that Anna could never walk properly. In those days, before the car, horses and one’s own two feet were the main means of transport. As she couldn’t use her feet, Anna began to rely heavily on horses to pull her around in a cart or trap. Soon she grew to love horses and to be appalled by the careless and cruel treatment they often received from humans.
In 1871 a doctor told Anna that she had only eighteen months to live. She was very weak but very determined to write a book, “to induce kindness, sympathy and understanding treatment of horses”. Five years later, she was still working on Black Beauty, her only book. By this time she was so weak that she couldn’t get out of bed and she could only write a few lines at a time. Her mother would then make a clear copy of Anna’s pencilled writing. Black Beauty was finished and published in 1877. Anna died a few months after publication so never knew of the book’s huge success.
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
This book did for horses what Charles Dickens managed for workhouses, boarding schools and several other of the less laudable Victorian institutions. Like Dickens, it has survived the test of time and remains on most "Children's Classic" lists. Although there are plenty of horsy adventures for the hero, Sewell manages to avoid almost all of the traps of anthropomorphism and sickening sentimentality that infest most kids' books that touch upon matters equine. This book should however come with a warning: it can be quite brutal, as was the Victorian's treatment of working horses and, when I first read it as a child of six I found it harrowing and desperately upsetting (although it does have a reasonably happy ending). At 44, I still can't read it without a tear and a lumpy throat so this is probably not one for the nursery bookshelf; however, it remains on my list of essential reading for children. My eight-year-old son is studying Victorian history as his school project and has put down Harry Potter in favour of this; trying to prevent my six-year-old, horse-mad daughter from picking it up may prove problematical.
Book was bought for my mother, who is 84 and had read this book as a child. She mentioned how much she enjoyed reading it then, and was up to date with her favourite authors of the moment such as Martina Cole and Lynda La Plante. She reread Black Beauty in 2 nights and enjoyed it as much as ever - so this is definitely one for the reread list. Would recommend for children, or for those who read it as children, loved it then, and would enjoy reading it again.
A timeless classic, easy to read and worth every penny, even you are not into classics.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An important, instructive, and moving classic
A beautiful, compassionate book highlighting the mistreatment of horses. This was quite a ground-breaking book in the 19th Century, and was helpful in pushing forward the rights of... Read more
Published on 26 May 2007 by Paul Rance
Moving and thought provoking story of a horse
Everyone should read this book. A story told through the horse's eyes and of the misfortunes he suffers, how he comes down in the world through no fault of his own but finally... Read more
Published on 25 May 2002 by Ms. K. E. Fallows
Black Beauty : still just as poignant
Having always loved horses and having been a pony mad child, this was one of the first books I read about horses and is still the one I come back to time and again. Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2001
The Classics are the best
You have your harry potter at the moment but that doesn't have a moral to it does it. This does. I wasn't able tohave a nice horse ride down a beach in tunisia with out feeling a... Read more
Published on 23 May 2000
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