Uncle Tom's Cabin / Bantam classic ed.

　　Uncle Tom's Cabin is a novel by American abolitionist author Harriet Beechehr Stowe which treats slavery as a central theme. The work was first published on March 20, 1852. The story focuses on the tale of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black slave, the central character around whose life the other characters—both fellow slaves and slave owners—revolve. The novel dramatizes the harsh reality of slavery while also showing that Christian love and faith can overcome even something as evil as enslavement of fellow human beings. 　　Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century (and the second best-selling book of the century after the Bible) and is credited with helping to fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold. The book's impact was so great that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the American Civil War, some historians believe he said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!" 　　The book also created and spread several common stereotypes about African-Americans, many of which endure to this day. These include the affectionate, dark-skinned mammy; the Pickaninny stereotype of black children; and the Uncle Tom, or dutiful, long-suffering servant faithful to his white master or mistress. In recent years, the negative associations with Uncle Tom's Cabin have to a large degree overshadowed the historical impact of the book. 　　First published in 1843, Charles Dickens' classic tale of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, whose cold and embittered heart is warmed by the joys and rewards of love, is the ideal holiday read. 　　Publisher Comments: 　　Uncle Tom, Topsy, Sambo, Simon Legree, little Eva: their names are American bywords, and all of them are characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's remarkable novel of the pre-Civil War South. Uncle Tom's Cabin was revolutionary in 1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, "a man of humanity," as the first black hero in American fiction. Labeled racist and condescending by some contemporary critics, it remains a shocking, controversial, and powerful work — exposing the attitudes of white nineteenth-century society toward "the peculiar institution" and documenting, in heartrending detail, the tragic breakup of black Kentucky families "sold down the river." An immediate international sensation, Uncle Tom's Cabin sold 300,000 copies in the first year, was translated into thirty-seven languages, and has never gone out of print: its political impact was immense, its emotional influence immeasurable. 　　From AudioFile: 　　Classic nineteenth-century literature can be difficult to read and hear. But this production is an exception. Buck Schirner's characters are so vivid, so well enunciated, that we wish Stowe had created more people for Schirner to give voice to. His characters argue about slavery, lament their fortunes and survive by their wits. He gives each person emotion and depth and reads Stowe's prose with conviction. Indeed, it's hard not to, given the moral force behind her words. The only negative is when Schirner reads in his own voice, which is low and flat. Because of his excellent vocal work, though, the book reminds us that the debate over race and human worth was as vivid in the 1850's as it is today. 　　From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister 　　This is one of those books that everybody has heard about but few people these days have actually read. It deserves to be read - not simply because it is the basis for symbols so deeply ingrained in American culture that we no longer realize their source, nor because it is one of the bestselling books of all time. This is a book that changed history. Harriet Beecher Stowe was appalled by slavery, and she took one of the few options open to nineteenth century women who wanted to affect public opinion: she wrote a novel, a huge, enthralling narrative that claimed the heart, soul, and politics of pre-Civil War Americans. It is unabashed propaganda and overtly moralistic, an attempt to make whites - North and South - see slaves as mothers, fathers, and people with (Christian) souls. In a time when women might see the majority of their children die, Harriet Beecher Stowe portrays beautiful Eliza fleeing slavery to protect her son. In a time when many whites claimed slavery had "good effects" on blacks, Uncle Tom's Cabin paints pictures of three plantations, each worse than the other, where even the best plantation leaves a slave at the mercy of fate or debt. By twentieth-century standards, her propaganda verges on melodrama, and it is clear that even while arguing for the abolition of slavery she did not rise above her own racism. Yet her questions remain penetrating even today: "Is man ever a creature to be trusted with wholly irresponsible power?" -- For great reviews of books for girl 　　Book Dimension 　　Height (mm) 178 Width (mm) 110