Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

A horse's own story of kindness and cruelty

Told entirely from the horse's own point of view, Anna Sewell's beloved 1877 classic follows Black Beauty from an idyllic foalhood in an English meadow through years working under a string of very different owners, from the kind Squire Gordon and his groom John Manly to the harsher hands of city cab work. Along the way Beauty befriends fellow horses Ginger and Merrylegs and witnesses first-hand the difference between compassionate and careless treatment of animals. Written to promote kindness toward horses, the novel became an immediate bestseller and is credited with real changes to Victorian animal welfare practices, and remains a much-loved classic well over a century later.