Product Description
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe.

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. ... Read more

Product Description
Harriet Beecher Stowe grew up in a family in which her seven brothers were expected to be successful preachers and the four girls were never to speak in public. But slavery made Harriet so angry she couldn't keep quiet. Although she used a pen rather than her voice to convince people of the evils of slavery, she became more famous than any of her brothers. She firmly believed that words could make change, and by writing Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe hastened the Civil War and changed the course of America history."Readable and engrossing."-- The Horn Bookn"Fritz writes with verve and wit....Many kids will be stimulated to go on from here to find out more."-- Booklist (boxed review) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Family influences - Positive and negative
The lives of the twelve children of Lyman Beecher, a fiery New England minister determined that all his sons become preachers, are chronicled in this book. But the primary focus is on his middle daughter, Harriet Beecher, who longed for her father's love and approval.

The shy, talented Harriet was overshadowed by her older and domineering sister Catherine after the death of their mother when they were young. Trying to please everyone, Harriet lived her life "doing as she ought" and giving in to the desires of almost everyone around her.

During a time of unprecedented upheaval in America because of slavery, it took the urging of her husband, brother, and a dear sister-in-law to convince Harriet to use her pen to change the world. The result was Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel that, in President Lincoln's words, "started this big war." It was her story that changed the minds of many in America and led to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War to end slavery.

The entire Beecher family suffered with bouts of depression in a day when there was no medical help available. In addition, the influence of a harsh, critical father who preached God's wrath and judgment sent his twelve children in opposite directions. Two committed suicide, one was institutionalized for insanity, and others spent their lives meddling in the affairs of their family. The saving grace of the family resulted in Henry Ward Beecher, one of the best known and beloved preachers of New England, three other ministers, and Harriet, whose passion and sense of justice made her the toast of Europe and the conscience of America in the late 19th century.

This unpretentious book is a vaulable essay for young ministers especially, but also for anyone who enjoys history and biographies.

Jean Fritz Makes a Masterpiece of the Beecher Family in Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers
When I hear the word `biography', the first thing I think is another boring book of facts.But Jean Fritz keeps her reader's interested, talking in a conversational tone, while weaving the tale of Harriet Beecher Stowe's life during the Civil War.You watch the influential writer and her family grow - facing much hardship and happiness.I would give this book five stars.Anyone who is interested in life during the civil war - well, Harriet's life at least, should definitely read this book.I would recommend it to kids 10-15.

I recommend it!
Jean Fritz does a wonderful job with this short biography for young adults. It's easy to read and gives lots of information on Harriet's life without boring you or causing your brain to feel overstuffed. There are pictures as well. I recommend this book for everyone, and it was a big help in my research.

just what i needed
This book was recomended to my by one of my study books after I finished reading Uncle Tom's Cabin. This book gives you insightful information about Harriet and her family, but does not make it dull. It is not to long of a book perfect for those readers who don't want to waste time on extra information. This book made me want to study further on about Harriet Beecher Stowe and learn more about her. I highly recomend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about someone and their part of making history. ... Read more

Product Description
An excerpt:

"Come, Sam, tell us a story," said I, as Harry and I crept to his knees, in the glow of the bright evening firelight; while Aunt Lois was busily rattling the tea-things, and grandmamma, at the other end of the fireplace, was quietly setting the heel of a blue-mixed yarn stocking.

In those days we had no magazines and daily papers, each reeling off a serial story. Once a week, "The Columbian Sentinel" came from Boston with its slender stock of news and editorial; but all the multiform devices--pictorial, narrative, and poetical--which keep the mind of the present generation ablaze with excitement, had not then even an existence. There was no theatre, no opera; there were in Oldtown no parties or balls, except, perhaps, the annual election, or Thanksgiving festival; and when winter came, and the sun went down at half-past four o'clock, and left the long, dark hours of evening to be provided for, the necessity of amusement became urgent. Hence, in those days, chimney-corner story-telling became an art and an accomplishment. Society then was full of traditions and narratives which had all the uncertain glow and shifting mystery of the firelit hearth upon them. They were told to sympathetic audiences, by the rising and falling light of the solemn embers, with the hearth-crickets filling up every pause. Then the aged told their stories to the young,--tales of early life; tales of war and adventure, of forest-days, of Indian captivities and escapes, of bears and wild-cats and panthers, of rattlesnakes, of witches and wizards, and strange and wonderful dreams and appearances and providences.

In those days of early Massachusetts, faith and credence were in the very air. Two-thirds of New England was then dark, unbroken forests, through whose tangled paths the mysterious winter wind groaned and shrieked and howled with weird noises and unaccountable clamors. Along the iron-bound shore, the stormful Atlantic raved and thundered, and dashed its moaning waters, as if to deaden and deafen any voice that might tell of the settled life of the old civilized world, and shut us forever into the wilderness. A good story-teller, in those days, was always sure of a warm seat at the hearthstone, and the delighted homage of children; and in all Oldtown there was no better story-teller than Sam Lawson. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (27)

Yearning to Read Review
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.

yearningtoread on blogspot

Uncle Tom Misread
* "Uncle Tom's Cabin might make you a little nostalgic for the old United States. A place where the masters of commerce and the workers were right there together, each keeping an eye on the other, over the shoulders of middle management. A time when the ruling class was within grasping space of the oppressed. Stowe might make you wonder what happened to a people that could create communities in the slave quarters. Places where horror reigned absolute. How these devastated people were able to birth such a person as Uncle Tom. A character who refuses to harm another black person no matter how much the evil slaver tries to force him. This is a work of fiction, but these types did exist. To be called an Uncle Tom is negative in the black communities, but if we had Uncle Toms in the institutions of the U. S. today, black people would not suffer so. Reading Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin may make you long for another time. Of course books are supposed to make you feel. - [...] Chronicles of a Preacherman

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom's Cabin, or, Life among the Lowly is an 1852 anti-slavery sentimental novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which she wrote as a response to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This novel is sometimes considered a contributing factor to the start of the American Civil War, as it brought many unpleasant aspects of slave life and the slave trade into the public awareness.

The novel's events center around two slaves: Eliza, who attempts to flee to Canada with her son, who has just been sold, and Tom, who has also been sold, but who goes along subserviently. And while Uncle Tom's Cabin certainly is about Tom, it is much less about Eliza than it is about the responses of the other characters she comes in contact with.

One of Uncle Tom's Cabin's main themes is the triumph of Christian love over evil, and for overtness, power and sincerity, the novel's Christian message can scarcely be topped. Eva is an obvious Christ figure, and Tom becomes one as well, but Tom is particularly noteworthy because he's one of the most eternity-minded characters in all of literature. He endures everything, as Saint Paul said, for the sake of the gospel (which he is always quick to share) - his stated reason for remaining in cruel bondage when presented with a chance of escape is to minister to the other slaves. Because of his selfless love and inner strength, he is the book's most admirable character.

(It's interesting (and too bad) how the term "Uncle Tom" - now used to negatively describe a black who is subservient to whites - has become so pejorative. Stowe's Tom is a loving, strong-willed, eternity-minded character. But lax copyright laws in the nineteenth century allowed for unauthorized diluted and altered stage versions of the story (called "Tom shows," some of which were even pro¬-slavery), and many people came to know Tom as a stereotypical minstrel buffoon - certainly a great number more people saw the stage dramas than read the books.)

Uncle Tom's Cabin is a sentimental novel (in the literary sense), and Stowe goes for the heartstrings at every opportunity. Though the reader may not at any time, many of Stowe's characters burst into tears at the slightest provocation. Stowe herself is a preachily-involved narrator, and nothing the author has to say is handled subtlely. While Stowe's many characters debate various "biblical" perspectives on slavery, the narrator's (and the author's) views are never in doubt, and she laments to an even greater extent America's burgeoning disregard for the Bible.

From a literary standpoint, Uncle Tom's Cabin is largely unimpressive, and sometimes it's a downright mess. If the novel wasn't so socially and politically relevant, it would have been lost in the mists of time with countless other sappy, mediocre novels.

In the first place, there are about twice as many characters as there need to be, far too many of whom are named Tom, Henry, or George. And it isn't always easy to pin down just who the main characters are, because conscientiously-developed characters leave after a few chapters, others arrive, and some characters who are obviously key to Stowe's tale (Eliza, in particular), vanish for a hundred pages at a time, while others don't debut until halfway through the book. Many characters are flat, one-dimensional caricatures, present only to offer a particular point of view on a topic. In doing so, Stowe brings the reader into contact with every conceivable position on slavery and human rights, but it doesn't make for a particularly believable story.

Secondly, the book's goings-on are equally contrived. The reader can see the hand of Stowe on every major plot point, particularly at the end, where she attempts to tie up matters with a series of heartwarming but preposterous coincidences.

But this doesn't mean that Uncle Tom's Cabin is horribly written; that's simply not the case. Sometimes Stowe produces a very fine turn of phrase, and certain scenes are well done and do produce the intended emotional response. And many of the book's moral and philosophical debates hold the reader's interest because Stowe has clearly thought through the issues and educated herself on the various arguments and viewpoints.

So while Uncle Tom's Cabin is not very impressive as literature, it remains important (and worth reading) because of its message and the role it played in a key era of American history.

Uncle Tom's Cabin
I finally gave up on Uncle Tom's Cabin.Dialogue written in vernacular drove me nuts.

Brave, Brilliant, Heartbreaking
This is on the top 10 list of favorite books--I couldn't put it down--I was staying up until 2 a.m. to read it. Stowe is brilliant in her dialogue, as if she was listening to the conversations, the various dialects are amazing and the variety of characters she creates. At times you do have to read over, especially some of the slave dialect, but once you get used to it, it becomes easy. I can't imagine anyone condemning this brave woman (who had seven children by the way when she wrote this book) who spoke out against slavery and uncovered the ugliness and horror of it and vehementally condemned those, especially Christians in the South who condoned it by twisting the meaning of the Bible. Yes, it is written from a Christian perspective and don't all of us view the world from our own perspective? And that was hers; people need to remember that the majority of abolitionist were Christians. When I opened the book somewhere in the middle and read a bit to see if I was going to like the book--I felt I wanted to drop to my knees when she gave her description of Miss Ophelia--this is genius! I couldn't wait to begin reading. My only complaint was that there were places in the book that she was overly sentimental and it was an odd contrast to the tone of the book; a realism, which gave just enough details for you to see clearly with your own minds eye exactly what was happening--this is a definite read. She is no docile woman and another review I read I wondered at--as she has several strong women characters in the book. ... Read more

Product Description
General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1891Original Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin and Co.Subjects: Biography ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: Fields, Osgood in 1869 in 624 pages; Subjects: Literary CollectionsPlantation life; African Americans; Slavery; Slaves; Southern States; Uncle Tom (Fictitious character)/ Fiction; Master and servant/ Fiction; African Americans/ Fiction; Fugitive slaves; Political fiction; Didactic fiction; Uncle Tom (Fictitious character); Master and servant; Afro-Americans; Literary Collections / American / General; Literary Criticism / General; Literary Collections / General; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Historical; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Political; History / United States / State & Local / South; Juvenile Fiction / People & Places / United States / African American; Literary Criticism / American / General; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies; Social Science / Slavery; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An American Masterpiece
Possibly a greater work of art than Uncle Tom's Cabin, Oldtown Folks gives a penetrating and panornamic view of life in a New England village in the years following the Revolutionary War, and before the coming of the railroad and the steam engine.This book is beautiful, filled with rich insights about people and very humorous.In gives a vivid portrait of the social life and thinking of the people in the era.Stowe wrote the book in an effort to preserve for future generations the life, which she had known growing up as a child and which she saw passing away under the force of industrialization.She succeeded marvelously.This work along with perhaps five or six other novels by Stowe are a neglected national treasure.America would not be the society it is today, if Harriet Beecher Stowe were widely read and discussed.The society which did so at the time this work was written was capable of electing Abraham Lincoln to be President.One can only hope that such a day might come again. ... Read more

Product Description
A Story of the Coast of Maine first published in 1862 by the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Charming and humorous - most of the way
There is something charming in the early chapters of this novel, with the angelic Mara and the wild-spirited orphan Moses growing up together amongst the kindly though morally stern New England characters amidst the delightfully handsome Maine seacoast villages, that keeps the reader reading eagerly through the first part of the book - though Ms. Stowe can't maintain that level to the end. Mara grows up with a deep love for Moses, though, of course, he's blind to it. But after a long voyage to China he realizes it, but now she seems interested in another. Jealous, he begins to court the flirtatious Sally, though she steers him back to Mara where his true love lies. The two principals reconcile and enjoy a blissful time together for a short while, when Mora dies of consumption.

Stowe writes with a great deal of compassion, and her characters are strongly developed. She also writes with much wit, best revealed in the character Captain Kittridge (Sally's father), by far, I think, the best character in the novel. Unfortunately, Stowe gets preachy at times throughout the book, especially regarding her views on educating children and, near the end (which greatly mars the conclusion) on facing death stoically. Proof of Stowe's convictions, however, is the fact that the Spanish-Catholic, somewhat unrestrained, parentless Moses is "reformed" by Mora's love and patience and, not least of all, by her Calvinistic upbringing. Despite the weightiness of the ending, it's still a very good novel - her second best, in my opinion, after "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
... Read more

Product Description

This collection was designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically, chronologically and by category, making it easier to access individual books, stories and poems. This collection offers lower price, the convenience of a one-time download, and it reduces the clutter in your digital library. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents and footnotes. The collection is complimented by an author biography. Author's biography and stories in the trial version.

Customer Reviews (3)

American classic
Works of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Huge collection. (40+ Works) Includes Uncle Tom's Cabin, Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands, Lady Byron Vindicated and more. ... version. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

Stowe's great achievment in writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was to describe the nuts and bolts, the mere logistics and schematics of slavery. She established for the reader the point of view of the slave, of a human life set against the legally sanctioned bureaucracy of slavery. She successfully depicted a person - an individual, a human being - sold as a product, warehoused as a product, transported as a product, and then set to use as an organic machine that was discarded and replaced when it broke. More to the point, she allows us glimpses into the inner lives, thoughts and prayers of those sold, warehoused, transported and used up while their ties to family and place, while their smallest hopes, are given credence only as an afterthought that may never coalesce. Only if, after having purchased a brother or a mother, there should be enough money remaining to buy the sister or the child. Only if it should be convenient and expedient for the planter to do so, only if it should strike that planter's fancy one particular afternoon but not another.

Perfect format for the Kindle!
I've purchased over 20 of these complete author collections from this publisher. I have purchased William Shakespear, Charles Dckens, Mark Twain, Edgar Alan Poe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Jule Verne, Oscar Wilde, Alexander Dumas, and a few others. These collections work superbly on the Kindle. Take Mark Twain collection. The collection includes huge number of Mark Twain's works all in one place, searchable and well-organized. If I would have purchased all these books separately, searching for `The Gilded Age' among hundreds of other books on my Kindle would be a nightmare. With Mobile Reference collections, I simply click `Works of Mark Twain', then click Novels> `The Gilded Age'. I can also click `List of works in alphabetical order' > `G' > `Gilded Age'. If I forget the book title but remember that `The Gilded Age' was written by Mark Twain early in his career, I can click on `List of works in chronological order' > (1873) `The Gilded Age'.

If I want another author, say, Charles Dickens, I click `Home' > `Works of Charles Dickens'. If I want Dostoevsky, I click `Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky'. I think this format is perfect for organizing books on the Kindle.

Inside collections, each book has links to chapters and footnotes. The text is nicely formatted and seems to be complete and accurate - something that cannot always be said about inexpensive ebooks. I think these collections are great bargains both in terms of saved money, time, and book organization!

Works of Harriet Beecher Stowe ~ Kindle eBook
Complete Works of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Huge collection. (40+ Works) FREE Author's biography and stories in the trial version

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is one of my favorite novels. The novel became very influential because it criticized the cruelty of slavery. ... Read more

Product Description
"Up to this year I have always felt that I had no particular call to meddle with this subject....But I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak." Thus did Harriet Beecher Stowe announce her decision to begin work on what would become one of the most influential novels ever written. The subject she had hesitated to "meddle with" was slavery, and the novel, of course, was Uncle Tom's Cabin.Still debated today for its portrayal of African Americans and its unresolved place in the literary canon, Stowe's best-known work was first published in weekly installments from June 5, 1851 to April 1, 1852. It caused such a stir in both the North and South, and even in Great Britain, that when Stowe met President Lincoln in 1862 he is said to have greeted her with the words, "So you are the little woman who wrote the book that created this great war!" In this landmark book, the first full-scale biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe in over fifty years, Joan D. Hedrick tells the absorbing story of this gifted, complex, and contradictory woman. Hedrick takes readers into the multilayered world of nineteenth century morals and mores, exploring the influence of then-popular ideas of "true womanhood" on Stowe's upbringing as a member of the outspoken Beecher clan, and her eventful life as a writer and shaper of public opinion who was also a mother of seven. It offers a lively record of the flourishing parlor societies that launched and sustained Stowe throughout the 44 years of her career, and the harsh physical realities that governed so many women's lives. The epidemics, high infant mortality, and often disastrous medical practices of the day are portrayed in moving detail, against the backdrop of western expansion, and the great social upheaval accompanying the abolitionist movement and the entry of women into public life.

Here are Stowe's public triumphs, both before and after the Civil War, and the private tragedies that included the death of her adored eighteen month old son, the drowning of another son, and the alcohol and morphine addictions of two of her other children. The daughter, sister, and wife of prominent ministers, Stowe channeled her anguish and her ambition into a socially acceptable anger on behalf of others, transforming her private experience into powerful narratives that moved a nation.

Magisterial in its breadth and rich in detail, this definitive portrait explores the full measure of Harriet Beecher Stowe's life, and her contribution to American literature.Perceptive and engaging, it illuminates the career of a major writer during the transition of literature from an amateur pastime to a profession, and offers a fascinating look at the pains, pleasures, and accomplishments of women's lives in the last century.Amazon.com Review
Harriet BeecherStowe, daughter of a preacher, married to a poor Biblical scholar, andmother of nine, had the early good fortune of an education at a schoolfounded by her feminist older sister. To help support her family, Stowe beganto write. In 1851, born of evangelical outrage against slavery, her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin made herfamous. Today the very name conveys white paternalism and black passivity,but Hedrick points out that this unfairly ignores the "freedomnarrative" ofa book that had an electrifying effect on theabolitionist cause. When Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in 1862 he joked, "Soyou're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."Hedrick's illuminating biography of this remarkable woman won the 1995 PulitzerPrize. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

The little woman and the great book
Joan Hedrick's biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe is first rate. It is masterful in the way it tells the story of a prolific author whose life spanned most of the 19th century (1811-1896). What is even better is the way Hedrick places Stowe within the contexts of some of the most dynamic strands of American history and literature in this period: religious perfectionism, the anti-slavery movement, the development of professional authors, women's suffrage, the consumerism of the Gilded Age, and the increase in influence of "high" culture, among others. And, of course, there is Stowe's membership in the wonderful extended Beecher family, including her father, the famous preacher and theologian; her sister Catherine, the educator; her half-sister Isabella, the suffragist; her preacher brother Henry Ward, the subject of a famous scandal. These individuals, along with the long-suffering (and occasionally jealous) Calvin Stowe, her husband, appear and disappear like comets on the pages of this book.

One of the things I most enjoyed is Hedrick's discussion of how Stowe, one of the first women to make a living from her writing, ordered her life in order to make that writing possible. That she produced any work at all from the domestic disorders represented by seven children, scant income, frequent moves (related to Calvin's career as a theologian), and illness, not to mention political turmoil, is a miracle.

This is a scholarly biography, unlikely to appeal to a reader who simply wants to learn a bit more about this compelling woman. However, if you have a particular interest in the period, Hedrick's biography will set you down right in the midst of the turmoil, domestic and historic, that characterized Harriet Beecher Stowe's life. There are, in addition, a well-chosen set of photographs, extensive endnotes, and a fine bibliography.
M. Feldman

An Amazing Life
This biography has information about a woman who stuck by her beliefs about family, slavery, and obligations. She was firm in her beliefs, and truly lived them. Her determination to do the right thing ultimately influencedlarge numbers of people in this country.
(Should be 5 stars )

A Wonderful Biography, A Wonderful History
I'm very glad that some of the negative reviews didn't put me off this book. It is not only a wonderful biography of the life of this great author, but it is an excellent history of so much of the 19th century. Mind you, it's not light, summertime reading. I liked to read a chapter a night, because there was so much to savor and think about. I learned a tremendous amount about life in that time, (how did any of our ancestors survive long enough to bring us into the world?), and about everything from the anti-slavery movement, to women's rights, to the religious fervor of the day. It provided a comprehensive look at the development of a nation and a national character.

Of course, the centerpiece of it all is Mrs. Stowe, and she really came alive for me. The author makes good use of letters, so Mrs. Stowe, her family and friends can speak for themselves. And what a family it was! The famous Beecher clan in all its glory! Through the development of Mrs. Stowe's writing, we also see a change in how literature was viewed. From "Parlor Literature" which led to "Uncle Tom's Cabin" being read by all classes, it eventually became divided into high-class versus popular...what was critically acclaimed as opposed to what the people liked. It's a division that persists to this day, and led to Mrs. Stowe's masterpiece eventually being devalued as just melodramatic women's writing.

I think this is a first-class biography and history. There's a reason why it won the Pulitzer Prize for biography. It will stand as the definitive biography of a great author and a great lady.

Highly recommend
This is an excellent scholarly biography of Stowe, wonderfully researched and clearly written.Hedrick quotes generously from Stowe's letters, so the reader gets a feel for her voice and those of her family members.She puts Stowe's life in context beautifully, so besides being a great biography, it's also an excellent source on 19th-century millenialist, abolition, and suffrage movements and on the case of women writers & canon formation. Anyone who has read and liked Mary Kelly's Private Woman, Public Stage will like this book, too.
My only complaint is that the end rushes in -- Hedrick covers something like 14 years in the last chapter.Granted much of this time Stowe seemed to be developing Alzheimer's, but I would have liked a bit more detail.What was she doing in her lucid periods?What was her feminist sister Isabella doing and how did Stowe's youngest ne'er-do-well son go from a ship's boy to a Harvard student? These are quibbles, though.In fact, one of the things I most like about this book is that Hedrick doesn't supply information when there isn't any to be found.There's very little speculation here, no inappropriately imagined scenes, no "Stowe must have thought" or "Stowe must have done."For Hedrick, either it happened or it didnt; she knows the difference between a biography and a novel.

A disrespectul, voluminous account of an amazing woman
This biography was exhausting to read.The author painted a bleak, even disrespectul picture of this truly unique woman.There must be a better biography of this great woman!This book is not worth the time it takes to read it, which is a considerable amount given its enormous size!I do not recommend this biography in the least.Very disappointed with the author's approach to her subject. ... Read more

Product Description
Harriet Beecher Stowe is the famous writer of Uncle Tom's cabin.Her book made her readers aware of the conditions in the South for slaves and helped the abolition cause.Stowe wrote in her journal "I wrote what I did because as a woman, as a mother I was oppressed and brokenhearted, with the sorrows and injustice I saw, because as a Christian I felt the dishonor to Christianity because as a lover of my country I trembled at the coming day of wrath."Lady Byron Vindicated was published in 1870.Ms Stowe has written a defense of Lady Byron for leaving her husband.This book stirred up controversy between the supporters of Lord Byron and the defenders of his wife.This conflict still exists in some literary circles. ... Read more

Product Description
Pink and White Tyranny - A Society Novel is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Harriet Beecher Stowe is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Harriet Beecher Stowe then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Very descriptive writing but archaic
I read this to research historic views on marriage.It was well written; I have no complaints.The dictionary came in handy as some of the words are no longer used.

Ugh!
I'm a lit major.We read everything, anything, but this was too tedious to finish. Glad it was free.

Harriet Beecher Stowe
Pink and White Tyranny by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published by MobileReference (mobi).

A funny, marvelous tale of an empty-headed, gold digging girl and the unfortunate man she marries. Try to find an edition with the original ink drawings, which add much to the period flavor. Those familiar with Stowe only from Uncle Tom's Cabin will be amazed by her talent as a light humorist.

An absolute delight
A funny, marvelous tale of an empty-headed, gold digging girl and the unfortunate man she marries. Try to find an edition with the original ink drawings, which add much to the period flavor. Those familiar with Stoweonly from Uncle Tom's Cabin will be amazed by her talent as a lighthumorist. ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of the nineteenth-century author whose anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" helped intensify the disagreement between North and South. ... Read more

Product Description
Stowe's second anti-slavery novel, the sequel to Uncle Tom's Cabin, is an essential primary text for students of literature and history. This vigorous and compulsively readable story, masterfully edited by Newman, combines thought-provoking themes, rich characterization, satire, and sentiment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

WOW!!!!
I am shocked at how many of the "modern" views were actually in writing over an hundred years before I became acquainted with them.A great bit of liberal understanding.

She presents the arguments pro and con about slavery.

Dred; a Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp
I just read that Harriet Beecher Stowe's second book was as popular as her first, so I wanted my book club to read it as one of the selections for the coming year. But, the price of the book was quite prohibitive and I will have to choose another book for my selection. I am happy to have it in my book collection though.

The conflict between the races is cleverly demonstrated in this novel.
A Tale Of The Great Dismal Swamp is the story of Nina Gordo the mistress of a slave plantation and Dred a black revolutionary. Stowe demonstrates the differing attitude concerning slavery. Many slaves escaped to the swamp. They would find a high ground area and hide.

Harriet Beecher Stowe is well known as the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Unfortunately Dred was not well recognized, for Dred is a much stronger worker of art. Both novels' theme was antislavery. Stowe allowed the scenes of Dred to speak for themselves. Dred is a black revolutionary. The other lead character is the mistress of the slave plantation. The conflict between the races is cleverly demonstrated in this novel.

The other book by Harriet Beecher Stowe
While Uncle Tom's Cabin will likely remain Harriet Beecher Stowe's best known work, her 1856 novel Dred should not be overlooked.If you like this time period, you should like Dred.Stowe avoids the heavy-handed authorial commentary that characterizesUncle Tom's Cabin; in other words, she lets the events of the story speak for themselves.The story is slow-burning plantation drama--again, if you're a fan of 19th century literature, you'll love Dred.Dred compares favorably to Moby-Dick, as both novels turn on gradual plots where the reader's bond to the characters becomes crucial.Because the plot takes awhile to develop, the true reward of the novel comes from watching the characters grow and evolve.

This edition features an introduction and notes by Robert Levine, which do a great job of placing Stowe's work in a historical context.Dred should appeal to students of 19th century literature, and anyone else with an interest in slavery and abolition.

Right On, Harriet
A compelling and highly readable indictment of slavery in America, "Dred" takes risks that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" did not.The ending of "Dred" is powerful and strong, unlike that of"Uncle Tom", which seemed to advocate ultimately that the slavesshould be freed and encourged to return to Africa.Harriet BeecherStowe is just as sharp in her criticism of the North and she is to theSouth.She is quick to condemn the passive profiteers of slavery as she isthe slaveholder himself.I throughly enjoyed this book.I will readit a secod time. ... Read more

Product Description
Described by Henry James as "much less a book than a state of vision," "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is probably the most influential work of fiction in American history. Stowe's moving Christian epic turned millions of Americans against slavery, bringing the "peculiar institution" immeasurably closer to its fiery destruction. In "The Minister's Wooing" and "Oldtown Folks," Stowe examines the interplay of religion, domesticity, and women's roles and choices in the shaping of American culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Outmoded fiction, but interesting nonetheless
This is a compilation of three novels written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. These books are together considered by the editor to be her most important works, so they are grouped together in this volume. While Uncle Tom's Cabin is probably the most influential novel in American history, I doubt many readers have ever heard of The Minister's Wooing or Oldtown Folks. The rating then can't involve just Uncle Tom's Cabin, but must discuss all three books.

Uncle Tom's Cabin, as noted above, is the most influential novel in American history. There's a famous anecdote, repeated in slightly different forms in different places, that President Lincoln, upon being introduced to her, referred to her as "the little lady who started the big war" or something to that affect. Uncle Tom's Cabin opened the world of slavery (in a somewhat homogenized form) to Northern readers who objected to slavery but were convinced it wasn't their problem. The book itself is rather sly: it puts a very good man who's a slave in a series of situations, and it's not until the last portion of the book that his slavery becomes intolerable. The trick is that within the world of "acceptable" slavery, the situation is intolerable, with families being split and various other calamities. The result is to make the reader oppose slavery, even in situations when the master of the slaves were good-natured, compassionate people.

The Minister's Wooing is a different sort of story. It's set sometime just after the American Revolution in New England, and the main characters are a woman of middle years and her teenaged daughter, who have a boarder, the Minister of the title. The mother sets her heart on getting the Minister to marry her daughter, and off we go for a 300 page romance novel. The romantic aspect of the novel is very very tame by our modern standards, but the worst part of the book is the treacly religious fervor that pervades every page of the book. I think most modern fundamentalists would think it overdone. One odd circumstance is the appearance of Aaron Burr (prior to his shooting Alexander Hamilton) as a secondary character in the book: the author doesn't approve of Mr. Burr.

Oldtown Folks is set similarly to The Minister's Wooing, in New England at about the turn of the 18th Century. The book is told in the first person, with the narrator being the son of a widow. They befriend a pair of orphans from a neighboring village, and the bulk of the book surrounds one of the orphans, a young girl named Tina who bewitches everyone who knows her with her bright personality and wonderful demeanor. Some of the characters in this novel are especially well-drawn: one old woman is so hateful that you just despise her, more than the characters in the book do. The problem, again, is that the book just goes on and on, for almost 600 pages, and it takes forever to run to its conclusion.

All three novels deal with the inequities of society in the period in which they are set, and all three have the aforementioned religious overtones that are completely overdone by modern standards. If you can overcome the latter, the former are interesting, but I can't recommend either The Minister's Wooing or Oldtown Folks. Uncle Tom's Cabin is of course required reading for anyone interested in American history, and frankly is the best book of the three anyway.

Uncle Tom is the most important book in US History
A central text in American Literature and History, January 7, 2005
Reviewer: Tony Thomas (North Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews
Uncle Tom is probably the most important single book written in the United States of America. No one is really familiar with American culture, literature, relgion, and history if she or he has not read Uncle Tom.

To understand this book, I would urge people to consult Eric J. Sundquist's book New Essays on Uncle Tom's Cabin (The American Novel) and Jane Tompkin's Sensational Designs. The 19th Century world and reader that Stowe aimed at read and understood things so differently, that you will miss much without knowing how to look at this book the way Stowe wrote to them and the way they read.

This book has a broad purpose: literary to decide what is wrong with the entire world and present an answer. If you follow the sweep of the book you will find Stowe takes on everything from whether the issues of the 1848 revolutions can be resolved on the side of Democracy, to the question of marital relations amogn the free and the white. The issue of slavery is not the book's only focus. It is, in fact, the solution.

Stowe's real thesis here is that American Chattel slavery is the number one evil in the world, that this evil corrupts every institution in society North and South and corrupts far beyond the borders of the United States, and that no compromise with it or avoidance of it is possible.

To Stowe, slavery is an abomination not just because of the cruelty, savagery, exploitation, and degradation involved, but above all, it is an abomination against God, the most unChrist-like behavior possible.

Thus the relgious solution she offers is to become more Christlike in your opposition to slavery and to finally undergrow the Christic experience of dying for your sins and being reborn in Jesus Christ. That's right, in Stowe's time evangelical Christianity, rather than being a fob for right-wing politics, was practiced by some of the militant and serious opponents of slavery.

Stowe creates figures that are Christlike who like Christ die rather than yield to sin and influence the others in their faith. The supreme figure is of course Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom, as a a pejorative, comes not from this novel, but from the Tom shows that blossomed in the late 19th century which were a presentation of a mock version of this story with racist minstrel like charicatures of the African American characters.

In this book, Uncle Tom is a physically majestic, heroic, dignified person, whose faith and dignity are never corrupted, whose death is shown as a parallel to that of Christ in the resurrection of the souls of all around him required to eliminate Slavery. If he is passive, never disobeys his masters, and seems to have not much of a material interest of his own in life, it is because to Stowe this a reflection of his Christic nature.

No doubt at best Stowe sees him as a "noble savage" at Best. There is no doubt if one reads this book and even more clearly STowe's Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin which provided documentation for this book's depiction of slavery, that it is clear that Stowe did not believe African Americans were equal to whites. Her then-current immigrationist views are expressed in the way the one intelligent independently acting Black couple presented here leave the US for Canada once they escape slavery.

Yet, this book accomplished the purpose it had. It galvanized millions of Americans and more millions around the world to dramatically oppose slavery. Uncle Tom was one of the first true international best sellers. In a smaller country, where literacy was lower, and when many people bought books through private libraries where families shared books and the book was often read to family gatherings rather than by one person, Uncle Tom sold two hundred thousand copies in its first year and sold a million copies between its publication and the civil war.

Stowe was honest in her afterward and in other writings to say that her description of slavery in Uncle Tom is much prettier and more nicer than slavery was. She believed an accurate depiction of slavery--Stowe had lived in Cincinatti on the board with slaving Kentucky and traveled through the South--would be so revolting that her target audience of Northern whites would not read this book.

Her book launched a torrent of responses from white southerners as could be expected. However, the popularity of her book encouraged white authors, but especially Black authors to write antislavery books that responded to Stowe. Some of the foundations of Black American literature by authors like Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown, Harriet Jacobs, and Martin Delany are essentially response to Uncle Tom.

Perhaps the most dramatic is Delany's Blake or the Huts of America whose character is a double to Uncle Tom. However, Delany's hero does not submit to being sold "down the river." He instead runs away and travels throughout the US following the same course as the travels in Uncle Tom showing how slave conditions are so much worse than Stowe showed. Finished with that business, Blake leaves the United States for Cuba where he becomes part of a group of Afro-Cubans unwilling to suffer like Christ and Uncle Tom. Like the current leaders of Cuba, they start to organize an international revolution of Slaves and the oppressed!

A great interpretation of a Christian man in shackles.
Uncle Tom's Cabin, written by a woman who appalled slavery, has touched the hearts of many readers.Wanting to change and affect public opinion on the concept of slavery, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a novel, a dramatic,engaging narrative that claimed the heart, soul, and politics of manyfellow Americans.It was propaganda and an attempt to make whites in theNorth and South see slaves as mortal human beings with Christian souls.
Uncle Tom's Cabin is the story of the slave Tom.Strong andloyal as he is, his "good" master, Mr. Shelby, sells Tom to Mr.Haley, a slave trader, to pay off a debt.Mr. St. Clare then purchases himas anact of gratitude for saving his daughter's life.After St. Clare'sdeath, his wife goes against his wishes and sends him to a slave warehousewhere he is bought by the "bullet headed" Mr. Simon Legree. Here, Tom endures brutal treatment at the hands of his master.By exposingthe extreme cruelties of slavery, Stowe explores society's failures andasks, what is it to be a moral human being?"
The novel wasrevolutionary for its passionate indictment of slavery and its presentationof Tom, "a man of humanity."Labeled racist and condescending bysome contemporary critics, Uncle Tom's Cabin still remains a shocking,controversial, and powerful piece of literature--exposing the attitudes ofwhite nineteenth century society toward the institution of slavery, anddocumenting the tragic breakup of black Kentucky families.
Iwould definately recommend this novel to all well-informed readers lookingfor literature with much diction and imagery.It would also suit the needsof those looking for a great plot.However, I caution those sensitive togreat detail of torture because this novel is very strong and graphic onthe broad issue of slavery. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (20)

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom's Cabin, or, Life among the Lowly is an 1852 anti-slavery sentimental novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which she wrote as a response to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This novel is sometimes considered a contributing factor to the start of the American Civil War, as it brought many unpleasant aspects of slave life and the slave trade into the public awareness.

The novel's events center around two slaves: Eliza, who attempts to flee to Canada with her son, who has just been sold, and Tom, who has also been sold, but who goes along subserviently. And while Uncle Tom's Cabin certainly is about Tom, it is much less about Eliza than it is about the responses of the other characters she comes in contact with.

One of Uncle Tom's Cabin's main themes is the triumph of Christian love over evil, and for overtness, power and sincerity, the novel's Christian message can scarcely be topped. Eva is an obvious Christ figure, and Tom becomes one as well, but Tom is particularly noteworthy because he's one of the most eternity-minded characters in all of literature. He endures everything, as Saint Paul said, for the sake of the gospel (which he is always quick to share) - his stated reason for remaining in cruel bondage when presented with a chance of escape is to minister to the other slaves. Because of his selfless love and inner strength, he is the book's most admirable character.

(It's interesting (and too bad) how the term "Uncle Tom" - now used to negatively describe a black who is subservient to whites - has become so pejorative. Stowe's Tom is a loving, strong-willed, eternity-minded character. But lax copyright laws in the nineteenth century allowed for unauthorized diluted and altered stage versions of the story (called "Tom shows," some of which were even pro¬-slavery), and many people came to know Tom as a stereotypical minstrel buffoon - certainly a great number more people saw the stage dramas than read the books.)

Uncle Tom's Cabin is a sentimental novel (in the literary sense), and Stowe goes for the heartstrings at every opportunity. Though the reader may not at any time, many of Stowe's characters burst into tears at the slightest provocation. Stowe herself is a preachily-involved narrator, and nothing the author has to say is handled subtlely. While Stowe's many characters debate various "biblical" perspectives on slavery, the narrator's (and the author's) views are never in doubt, and she laments to an even greater extent America's burgeoning disregard for the Bible.

From a literary standpoint, Uncle Tom's Cabin is largely unimpressive, and sometimes it's a downright mess. If the novel wasn't so socially and politically relevant, it would have been lost in the mists of time with countless other sappy, mediocre novels.

In the first place, there are about twice as many characters as there need to be, far too many of whom are named Tom, Henry, or George. And it isn't always easy to pin down just who the main characters are, because conscientiously-developed characters leave after a few chapters, others arrive, and some characters who are obviously key to Stowe's tale (Eliza, in particular), vanish for a hundred pages at a time, while others don't debut until halfway through the book. Many characters are flat, one-dimensional caricatures, present only to offer a particular point of view on a topic. In doing so, Stowe brings the reader into contact with every conceivable position on slavery and human rights, but it doesn't make for a particularly believable story.

Secondly, the book's goings-on are equally contrived. The reader can see the hand of Stowe on every major plot point, particularly at the end, where she attempts to tie up matters with a series of heartwarming but preposterous coincidences.

But this doesn't mean that Uncle Tom's Cabin is horribly written; that's simply not the case. Sometimes Stowe produces a very fine turn of phrase, and certain scenes are well done and do produce the intended emotional response. And many of the book's moral and philosophical debates hold the reader's interest because Stowe has clearly thought through the issues and educated herself on the various arguments and viewpoints.

So while Uncle Tom's Cabin is not very impressive as literature, it remains important (and worth reading) because of its message and the role it played in a key era of American history.

Uncle Tom's Cabin
I'm in the Baby Boomer Generation and I had never read this wonderful book.I was brought to tears at the way Uncle Tom was beaten to death by Simon Legree's men.But it was worth it all to see how he lived his life as a witness for Christ to other lost souls. It also gave me a glance of the way the Underground Railroad worked.It was truly amazing.Don't wait until you reach my age to read this book.

Don't skip the introduction.
Obviously, the text will be the same regardless of which publication you buy. What I found to be of great value here was the introduction.

Best Book (besides the Bible) Ever Written
I had to read this book for a class I took in college on the Civil War. Out of the whole class, reading this book was THE BEST experience. I rave about it to anyone who will listen and believe it is one of the best books ever written. In its pages you'll see the power of love, sacrifice, redemption, and providence overcome the evils (which are indeed real) of the world.

Buy it, read it through to the end, and you will not regret it.

Most warmly and sincerely,
Devin

A classic that every American should read
After reading this book, I can see why it was so influential in promoting the abolition movement.The main story along with the side stories were compelling and heart-rending.This book masterfully encapsulates what slavery in 19th century American was like.The author does this in a way that is not heavy handed and overly accusatory towards the South.She even takes some shots at those in the North whose actions regarding slavery were not without guilt.Another key aspect of this book is its treatment of religious themes.Throughout the book, especially through the character of Uncle Tom, the Christian message is blatantly preached.Uncle Tom is partially a "type" of Christ in that his character traits mimic those of the "suffering servant" Christ.In fact, the Uncle Tom character is so full of strength, integrity, love, and mercy that it is an absolute shame his name has become a pejorative term.This book is powerful in so many ways that it may move you to tears.Its a painful read in that it reminds us of the sin of slavery, but it also is redemptive and has a positive message.If you've never read this book, you need to. ... Read more

Product Description
A biography profiling the life of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the American author who, in writing Uncle Tom's cabin, revealed the cruelties of slavery and further split an already divided country. Includes source notes and timeline. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description

Uncle Tom's Cabin was a sensation upon its publication in 1852. In its first year it sold 300,000 copies, and has since been translated into more than twenty languages. This powerful story of one slave's unbreakable spirit holds an important place in American history, as it helped solidify the anti-slavery sentiments of the North, and moved a nation to civil war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Hard to read
When I ordered this book I didn't realize it would be so hard to read. I had always heard about this book but never read it, I still haven't. It has too much slang and half words in it. For as well known as it is I don't know how anybody read it. The story behind it is probably a very good story, but I couldn't understand enough of it to read more than the first chapter then it was placed on the book shelf. And I now know why it looks new and was sold as used, the fist purchaser probably couldn't read it either.

As a history major...
This book was incredible. Yes it can be racist, and extremist at times, but at it's core you're reading a piece of history. For a book to sell 300,000 copies during it's original publication in the mid 19th century is astounding. You're reading a book that had a part in the Civil War, the bloodiest war of our history. I did find while reading it that many parallels can be made between this book and "Black Beauty". Coincidence? Perhaps, but worth looking at in a review, or report. To read this and think that America permitted this slavery to go on for years, would be enough to disgust anyone. America's history is a bloody one, one that we need to remember, and reading this book will make you appriciate your freedom now, as an American. Please do keep in mind however, the slave trade is still going not to America, but places in Europe and Asia, even with the U.N outlawing it in 1953. I just cannot say how much this book made me think about the world past and present. Most highly recommended.

my favorite book
right after lotr ttt. i think this book is awesome because it's got an engaging plot, with some "historial" references mixed in. if you're easily bored don't read the sermons where she begins with "dear reader/mother" and goes in to stir your pity. it's got a really fascinating ending and i'm just sad the real life cases never ended that way. read this if you're looking for something entertaining with historical background. no need to be studying history at all because i'm glad i read this even though i'm still in high school.

Wow
Wow! I must say this book is just...really amazing. I would reccomend it to anyone especially anyone who is studying the civil war or slavery in school.

unmet expectations
This particular book was recommended by a past professor that I consider my mentor. As I am studying to be a Professor of Literature, I thought surely this book would satisfy some of the historical questions I had about the plight of the negro slave. While the book can connect contemporary readers with knowledge of the antebellum south, the writing itself was way too pious. Stowe was the daughter, wife, and sister of preachers and it is easily seen in her writing. While the book has many redeeming qualities, it seems too much like a 700 page church sermon...NO THANKS. While it was good enough to finish it was still TOO tedious. ... Read more

Product Description
Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe by Harriet Beecher Stowe
**********************************************************We are pleased to offer thousands of books for the Kindle, including thousands of hard-to-find literature and classic fiction books.
Click on our Editor Name (eBook-Ventures) next to the book title above to view all of the titles that are currently available. **********************************************************
... Read more