Animal Farm by George Orwell (1996, Paperback, Anniversary)

Do you know anything about totalitarian regimes in the 20th Century? If not, read about Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler, then come back and read "Animal Farm". After the revolution, the pigs are the big wigs, the dogs are their Stasi. The other animals learn an important lesson: All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal. The tale shows how human nature and selfishness can bring corrution to, and even destroy, the most utopian society.
This book should be required reading in any modern high school government class.