Want a NOOK? Explore Now
In 1850 congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law, prohibiting assistance to fugitives. Stowe was moved to present her objections on paper, and in June 1851 the first installment of Uncle Tom's Cabin a appeared in the antislavery journal National Era. The forty-year-old mother of seven children sparked a national debate and, as Abraham Lincoln is said to have noted, a war.
Uncle Tom's Cabin: Or, Life Among the Lowly met with mixed reviews when it appeared in book form in 1852 but soon became an international bestseller. Some critics dismissed it as abolitionist propaganda, while others hailed it as a masterpiece. The great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy praised Uncle Tom's Cabin as "flowing from love of God and man." Stowe presented her sources to substantiate her claims in A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin: Presenting the Original Facts and Documents Upon Which It Is Based, published in 1853. Another antislavery novel, Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp, appeared in 1856 but was received with neither the notoriety nor the success of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Stowe fueled another controversy in The True Story of Lady Byron's Life (1869), in which she accused the poet Lord Byron of having an incestuous love affair with his half sister, Lady Byron. She also took up the topic of domestic culture in works that include The New Housekeeper's Manual (1873), written with her sister Catharine. Stowe died on July 1, 1896, at age eighty-five, in Hartford, Connecticut.
Author biography from the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
When it was becoming a sensation around the world, Uncle Tom's Cabin was smuggled into Russia, in Yiddish to evade the czarist censor.
Between 1853 and 1859, Stowe made several trips to Europe, and forged friendships with fellow writers George Eliot and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Anonymous
Posted Sat Mar 31 00:00:00 EDT 2007
I loved this book. I will admit that it wasn't an easy read. But I was determined to finish it anyway. It had so many valuable life lessons that I don't have the space or time to mention them all. I strongly recommend it for christians to read, because we do sometimes forget how to hold on to our faith, when times are bad. I laughed and cried, and I feel so much more enlightened now about faith and love. I hope I'll never forget the teachings in this book.
23 out of 26 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.courtney_weaver
Posted Wed Jan 13 00:00:00 EST 2010
Uncle Tom's cabin is a very touching story telling the life of a family of slaves. Uncle Tom is the heart of the story working on Mr. Shelbys farm. He has a wife and a son and he even has is own little cabin that Mr. Shelby has supplied him. Tom was happy there and the tought of escaping never crossed his mind. He believed that God put him there for a reason.
Writen by Harriet Beecher Stowe, this touching story is unforgettable. The story sets in the south on a slave plantation were the slaves work for their owners and the thought of being sold to a different owner stays with them everyday.
Not only does this story talk about the story of time but it is filled with charecters from all walks of life ranging from the runnaway slaves tht tells the struggles they go through and all of the heartache they experiance when the two get seperated.
Not only do the slaves suffer but their family does as well. Tom has a son and for the most of his little life he won't understand why his dad has left.
For most of Tom's journey through this book he gets traded from owner to owner and finaly gets settled in with an abusive, angered and strict man. Tom still finds away to keep faith and believes that God will light the way. Plus he meets some odd charectors throughout the story like Topsy a daranged and clumsy little slave girl that finds fun in entertaining anyone who will watch.
I would recomend this book to everyone and anyone because it teaches you the morals of life and that no matter what always keep faith because Tom never lost hope and he found the light in the most dimmest moments because he knew that God was always on his side protecting him
This book is a must read because it has a lot of historical facts and it gives you a glimpse into the eyes of a different race and what they had to experience.
22 out of 27 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2008
I am not religious, but I would call Uncle Tom the quintessential Christian, as far I have been taught. He holds on to forgiving others to the bitter end. This is one of the few ¿must read¿ books around. I think it should be mandatory reading for all youths. IMHO anyone who suggests this is anything but a great read either hasn¿t read the book, didn¿t understand the book or simply doesn¿t have a conscience. Brahma
9 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Dec 02 00:00:00 EST 2012
This is only the first 4 chapters!!!!!!!! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Wed Oct 03 00:00:00 EDT 2007
Uncle Tom's Cabin is an eloquent classic that vividly exposes the brutality of slavery. The personality and morals of various characters in the novel really engage one's attention, reflecting the mindsets of individuals from 19th Century Southern Society. Although an extremely long read with an uninteresting plot, the novel's realistic and gruesome account of the lives of slaves will surely astonish and intrigue the reader.
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Fri Dec 30 00:00:00 EST 2011
Book starts at chapter twenty nine. Save time and nook memory. Do not bother with this edition.
6 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Tue May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2006
I'm horrified and deeply troubled and haunted by the injustices done to poor Uncle Tom. After reading Uncle Tom I am ashamed slavery ever existed in the first place and people could treat others in such a cruel and dehumanzing way. I wont forget this book for as long as I live.
6 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Uncle Tom lives in Kentucky under the kind Shelby family, where he has had the life of ease, even as a slave in America. He's treated with respect, both him and his family. He has helped work the Shelby's land for years. Tom loves the Lord, and serves Him all the days of his life. His heart is set on winning others to Jesus and serving the saved and unsaved. He is joyful. He has everything a slave could ask for.
But Shelby has some debts to settle. Tom, the most valuable slave on the plantation, is sold, and sent with a trader named Haley to be sold. It is the beginning of one of the greatest adventures ever put to paper. It is an adventure of sorrow, broken hearts, and a love that is more redeeming than any human love.
I was greatly impressed by this book. Before I was finished with it, I read in a curriculum that many writers and publishers were very critical of Stowe's work, that many did (and do) not like it. Even then I wasn't quite sure why, but at the end I was confused. How could anyone dislike this book? Even if the story is too sad for you - how can you not at least see the beauty of the characters and how Stowe formed each sentence? It was all careful, taking one step, one breath at a time. The book was like that. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. Methodical, like breathing. And what's the beauty of breathing? It keeps you alive without you even knowing it. In a sense, Uncle Tom's Cabin was like that. Every breath was perfect, I didn't even realize it, but it kept the story going in a way that I will never, ever forget.
There isn't much else to say about this story...other than please, I beg you to read this book. I laughed, I cried my eyes out, I went numb with fear and hatred, I was captivated by the love of God. And Tom, the slave who is now free, will always be a hero.
5 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sat Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2013
This is a fantastic book.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Wed Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2012
Yet another free Nook book I'm not able to read.
4 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.9756370
Posted Wed Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2011
I had to read this book for a project in my American literature class last year and I really enjoyed it. Mrs. Stowe did an excellent job with characterization and descriptions. After researching her use of literary techniques, I could really appreciate her style of writing. It was a very well developed story with very interesting characters, all off them had their own story. I love how you could see the author's faith shine through in the book. It really gives you a different perspective on the religion of the day. I recommend this to readers who are up to a challenge as it is a rather hard book to just sit and read.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Mon May 18 00:00:00 EDT 2009
This book is a classic. It is a touching story about what slaves went through. It was even good enough to be put in the movie The King and I. That is what first moved me to read this book. Seriously give this book a try. You wont be disappointed.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This incredible book opens a window into the seedier side of American slave trade history. Written with compassion and realism Uncle Tom's Cabin exposes the harsh realities of plantation life in the South. Many of the fictional characters and their circumstances were developed by Ms. Stowe from actual individuals.
I was engrossed in the character development. Simon Legree is arguably the greatest villain ever penned and Uncle Tom is a gentle soul hard to forget. A great classic well worth reading for many reasons. I would highly recommend it.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.My title says it all. This book should be on everyone's "must read" book list. While the book is not entirely factual, it is founded on events that actually took place. It paints a rather grim picture of the terrible life of slavery in America. It is amazing to me that we allowed this practice to exist, even though I understand why it was condoned.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2006
This book is a very nice read. There is a very large amount of characters and it can be hard to remember who's who. But the main characters show multiple sides of their personality, and this book really shows what a good Christian is. Harriet Beecher Stowe does a wonderful job of showing the cruelties of slavery and the diversity of slave owners, ranging from St. Clare to Simon Legree, and the honesty of slaves such as Uncle Tom. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the thoughts about slavery in the 1850's.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Fri Nov 25 00:00:00 EST 2005
When I started to read this book, I was crying as the characters were seperating. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote this novel in such a fantastic way that I could actually bond and understand what the characters had to go through. Although most of this book is very sad and depressing, she ties it together with more fortunate events which make the novel seem even more real. I think that Harriet Beecher Stowe is one of the only authors who understands that one novel can not just be only morbid or gleeful, and that if you tie those two feelings together (with some more feelings to one side than another to set the tone), more connection and passion can be felt by the reader. Once you read this fantastic novel, you will be amazed at the real connection you feel with the characters and actual slaves.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Mon Mar 11 00:00:00 EDT 2013
A bit difficult in the beginning until I got used to the dialect, but it is truly an educational, endearing and emotional read.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Thu Feb 07 00:00:00 EST 2013
Like my headline says, don't buy this copy. Bought 2 other versions and same thing happened.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Tue Jan 29 00:00:00 EST 2013
Awesome! We are studying this in social studies!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.ANDILOU
Posted Fri Jan 25 00:00:00 EST 2013
Something that everyone should read!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
