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Watership Down
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Watership Down Paperback - 2005

by Richard Adams; Introduction by Madeline Miller

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This seller has earned a 4.07 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.07 / 5 (480 total reviews)

The phenomenal world seller for over 30 years returns to its original publishing home in a beautiful new edition.

About this book

Watership Down is an allegorical fantasy novel written by British author Richard Adams, narrating the adventures of a small group of anthropomorphized rabbits as they escape the destruction of their homeland. The story is set in England’s Downs, an idyllic rural home to the small native creatures who possess their own cultures, languages, poetry and mythology. They are soon faced with the settlement of humanity and watch as their land is ravaged by farmland and industrialized commercial advancement. In fear of their lives they leave their homes in hope of finding safety for their family and friends, despite the temptations and perils they are forced to struggle with along the way.

Reader reviews for Watership Down

Review summary

This seller has earned a 4.07 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.07 / 5 (480 total reviews)

Reviewers largely describe Watership Down as a vivid, high-stakes adventure whose mature, sometimes brutal episodes belie its reputation as a children’s book. Many praised Adams’s knack for making the rabbits feel authentically animal while sustaining rich characterization, along with the embedded folklore of El?ahrairah and pointed social and ecological themes—especially the authoritarian Efrafa storyline. The prose and close-to-nature detail earned admiration, and the audiobook narration drew praise. Common complaints included a slow start, stretches of heavy landscape detail and Lapine terminology, and dated gender treatment; a minority found it dull or did not finish. For many, though, the bond with Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, and Kehaar and the emotionally charged finale made it memorable.

Readers say this book is:
immersiveintensedarkthought-provokingemotionalrich world-buildingslow startdivisivecharacter-drivenallegorical

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From the publisher

Now with a new introduction by Madeline Miller, the New York Times bestselling author of The Song of Achilles and Circe.

The 50th anniversary edition of Richard Adam's timeless classic, the tale of a band of wild rabbits struggling to hold onto their place in the world--"a classic yarn of discovery and struggle" (The New York Times).

A worldwide bestseller for over thirty years, Watership Down is one of the most beloved novels of all time. Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of brothers, they journey from their native Sandleford Warren, through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, and toward the dream of a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.

"Spellbinding...Marvelous...A taut tale of suspense, hot pursuit and derring-do." --Chicago Tribune

First line

The primroses were over.

First edition identification

MacMillan published the first Edition U.S. hardcover copy in 1972. Characterized by tan cloth binding and tan paper over boards, the spine and cover are stamped in gilt. 

The first UK edition was published by Rex Collings, London, in 1972. Characterized by brown cloth wrapping and folding map, as well as a yellow dust jacket.

Details

  • Title Watership Down
  • Author Richard Adams; Introduction by Madeline Miller
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 496
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Scribner Book Company, New York, New York, U.S.A.
  • Publication date 2005-11-01
  • Features Glossary, Maps, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780743277709 / 0743277708
  • Weight 0.8 lbs (0.36 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.06 x 5.25 x 1.19 in (20.47 x 13.34 x 3.02 cm)
  • Reading level 880
  • Themes
    • Catalog Heading: Classics
    • Cultural Region: British
    • Curriculum Strand: Language Arts/Literature
    • Topical: Coming of Age
  • Category Literature - Classics / Criticism
  • Library of Congress subjects Fantasy fiction, Adventure and adventurers
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2005282820
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

Citations

  • Ingram Advance, 10/01/2005, Page 129
  • Newsweek, 04/28/2008, Page 14

About the author

Richard Adams (1920-2016) was educated at Bradfield College and Worcester College, Oxford. He served in the Second World War and in 1948 joined the civil service. In the mid-1960s he completed his first novel, Watership Down, for which he struggled for several years to find a publisher. It was eventually awarded both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Award for children's fiction for 1972. He would go on to publish several more books, including Shardik, Tales from Watership Down, Maia, The Plague Dogs, and The Girl in a Swing.

Madeline Miller is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Song of Achilles, which won the Orange Women's Prize for Fiction 2012, and Circe, which was short-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019. Her books have been translated into over thirty-two languages.

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Watership Down: A Novel
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Watership Down: A Novel

by Adams, Richard

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9780743277709 / 0743277708
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Watership Down : A Novel

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Watership Down : A Novel

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Watership Down: A Novel
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Watership Down: A Novel

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Watership Down: A Novel
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Watership Down: A Novel

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Watership Down: A Novel
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Watership Down: A Novel

by Adams, Richard

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Watership Down: A Novel
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Watership Down: A Novel

by Adams, Richard

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Watership Down: A Novel
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Watership Down: A Novel

by Adams, Richard

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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