Black Beauty - The Autobiography Of A Horse

Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate best-seller. Two years after the release of the novel, one million copies of Black Beauty were in circulation. With over fifty million copies sold, Black Beauty is one of the best-selling books of all time.The tale begins with Black Beauty's carefree days as a colt on an English farm, then covers his difficult life pulling cabs in London, and concludes with his happy retirement in the country. Along the way, he meets with many hardships and recounts many tales of cruelty and kindness. Each short chapter recounts an incident in Black Beauty's life containing a lesson typically related to kindness, sympathy, and understanding. Sewell's detailed observations and extensive descriptions of horse behavior give the novel a good deal of historical accuracy. ".... there is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham...." -Black Beauty, Chapter 13, last paragraph