Watership Down - Richard Adams

This was one of my course books at school and we pored over the adventures of 'Fiver' and 'Bigwig', et al and the underlying social systems of the respective burrows. It was one of those classroom unknowns, but discussed at length, whether it was the author's intention to provide a critique of democracy vs authoritarian rule, or simply a children's adventure book to be enjoyed.
It was not until my thirties that I was able to get a definitive answer from the author, Richard Adams. I was lucky enough to live for a time in the same village, not far from the legendary down and was invited round for tea. Of course, I had to satisfy my curiosity, but it was quite a relief to learn that it can be enjoyed as simply a classic piece of fiction and the news did not diminish it one jot!

Source: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10258076