One of the first and still one of the best-loved animal stories, Black Beauty was first published in 1877, just a few months before author Anna Sewell's death. Told in the first person, it is the autobiography of a horse, narrated by Black Beauty himself. From his simple beginnings under the shady trees in the meadow, Black Beauty's life takes many twists and turns – from a riding horse on a country estate to a cruelly mistreated cab horse on the busy streets of London, to his final years in happy retirement in the country. Black Beauty has many owners, some of whom treat him badly, but throughout it all he keeps his sweet temper and fine spirit.