Uncle Tom's Cabin
12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
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Publisher Description
Published in 1852, the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe is credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause and laying the groundwork for the Civil War.
Stowe, a Connecticut-born teacher at the Hartford Female Academy and an active abolitionist, featured the character of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering African-American slave around whom the stories of other characters revolve.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold in the United States. One million copies were sold in Great Britain. In 1855, three years after it was published, it was hailed as "the most popular novel of our day."
Uncle Tom's Cabin first appeared as a 40-week serial in The National Era, an abolitionist periodical, starting with the issue of June 5, 1851. The story became so popular that the publisher John P. Jewett contacted Stowe about turning the serial into a book.
Convinced the book would be a success, Jewett made the unusual decision for that time to have six full-page illustrations by Hammatt Billings engraved for the first printing.
"'Spread it round the world!' is the feeling which comes first, the instant, urgent, inevitable impulse, as one rises from the perusal of this fascinating book — and, thank God! it bids fair to become as familiar as household words, East, West, North and South." - The Independent
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Berneis gives a bravura performance in the latest audio edition of this classic tale. First published in 1851, Stowe's novel focuses on the stories of two black slaves. The first is young Eliza, who makes a desperate run for freedom when she discovers that her son is about to be sold and taken away from her. The second is Uncle Tom, who is about to be sold by the masters he loves and trusts. Rather than run, he accepts his fate, holding on to his Christian faith to carry him through these tribulations. Both characters long for the peace that would come with the release of their bonds, and both, after much heartbreak, troubles and tears, find that peace, but in very different ways. Berneis is a consummate storyteller. She gives the book's many characters distinct, individual voices that nimbly flow from one line to another. Her reading is simple and easy to listen to, even when the words and situations are disturbing. This is a powerful antislavery book that still resonates, over 100 years since its initial publication, and Berneis is an excellent choice to bring Stowe's provocative novel to life.
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