Watership Down: A Novel

Richard Adams

Jul 2009 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

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

Ratings and reviews

I have a very deep love for this book since I was a little girl. I read it a couple times a year so at 52, I wish I knew how many times I've read it. Even had a beautiful kitty named Hazel! Thank you, Mr Adams, for a literal life changing book!

Richard Adams wrote an amazing book called Watership Down. This story is a wonderful adventure about rabbits journeying to find a new home. The rabbits are courageous and all have unique personalities. This astonishing piece of fiction is a mix of adventure, survival, and even a bit of mystery. The parts of the book I found most enjoyable were the conflicts the rabbits encountered while looking for a new home. The author addresses these conflicts through conversations between the rabbits. The conflicts seem very real and easy to imagine. This excerpt shows the first conflict that they must overcome. The main characters, Hazel and Fiver, are having trouble convincing the others to join their journey. “Oh, that’s you, Fiver, is it?” said Bigwig, noticing him for the first time. “Good, I was just coming to look for you. I’ve been thinking about what you said to the Chief Rabbit. Tell me, is it a sort of tremendous hoax to make yourself important, or is it true?” As you can see, Hazel and Fiver are having trouble convincing others that there is danger coming to the warren. This is the first major conflict for the rabbits. Another thing I loved about this book was the characterization. Adams did a wonderful job of creating unique, realistic, and memorable personalities for every single character. Fiver is smaller than most other rabbits and senses the danger coming. Hazel is his older brother and takes care of him. The Chief Rabbit does not believe Hazel and Fiver about the danger at all. Here are a few examples of their personalities. “I don’t know what it is,” answered Fiver wretchedly. “There isn’t any danger here, at this moment. But it’s coming--it’s coming. Oh, Hazel, look! The field! It’s covered with blood!” That was Fiver speaking to Hazel. This next one is the Chief Rabbit. “A bad danger. Yes, I see. How very upsetting,” said the Chief Rabbit, looking anything but upset. As you can see, the characters crafted by Adams are very memorable. While I read this amazing book, I found that I couldn’t put it down. I kept telling myself, “Just one more chapter, then I’ll go to sleep.” I found myself so into this book, that I didn’t notice anything else. I could have read through an earthquake and not noticed anything but this wonderful writing. I think the message that Adams put in this book was that you can do anything if you work hard enough. It was also to trust others and never be so overconfident of yourself that you don’t listen other’s ideas. I loved this book and think it deserves a rating of 10 or higher. I thoroughly enjoyed this terrific book. Absolutely everybody who can read should be required to read this book.

The fastest five hundred pages I've read in a long time. Watership Down is terrific. Before starting this book, I had read so many glowing reviews from so many people saying what a treasure it is, I was just hoping it would be half as good as all those passionate testimonials were declaring it to be. Having now read it, I find myself writing my own passionate testimonial declaring what a treasure this book is. Do yourself a favor and read it. You'll be in for a real treat.

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.