Black Beauty is a novel written in 1877 by Anna Sewell about the life of a horse from his carefree days as a foal on an English farm enjoying the countryside with his mother, to his sale and his career as pulling cabs and wagons in London. Along the way, he meets with many hardships and recounts many tales of cruelty and cowardice, as well as heroism, courage and kindness.

By telling the story of a horse's life of in the form of an autobiography, Anna Sewell broke new ground. It was unusual to let the narrator of a story be a non-human, but more importantly her sympathetic portrayal of the plight of working animals led to a vast outpouring of concern for animal welfare.

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