This is a great book for anyone who is inerested in the pre Civil War era and all the issues that accompany slavery. Published in 1852 and written by a woman who lived in a nothern state bordering the south, Harriet Beecher Stowe delivers a powerful story of life in a time of extreme contention. The harshness of cruel masters is depicted as well as the more compassionate individuals that treated their slaves as members of the family. The courage of the characters that decide to risk it all and plan an escape to the northern states and eventually Canada, just to have the right to be treated as a human being is heart wrenching and gloriously uplifting all at the same time.
Anyone who enjoyed Alex Haley's "Roots" or David L Wolper's minseries "North and South", will enjoy this book. ( )

A really stunning book... its engaging, heartrending, truthful... the characters come alive. I really was impressed how it shows the beauty of some of the characters, when they're in a situation that is so objectively ugly. ( )

While I understand the book’s historical importance and appreciate its message, I had a really hard time getting through this for a couple of reasons. First, the religious rhetoric was very difficult for me. The long passages of religious posturing seemed to go on and on without end. Second, the characters are extremely one dimensional and idealized. Even the quite evil Legree is said to somehow see the wrong he is doing and still choose the path of evil. Third, there are entirely too many happy or sad coincidences. Characters randomly happen upon one another by chance. It took me out of the story at times. I am glad I re-read it (it has been years), and I value the importance of the work. However, I don’t think I will be reading again.

Note: Read through DailyLit ( )

In the preface to her collection of short stories about Quaker family life, The Time of Her Life, Quaker author Maude Robinson wrote: "There have been in the past a good many attempts in fiction to portray Quaker life with its peculiarities, its faults and its virtues; but coming from the pens of outsiders, many of the pictures are far from correct, or pleasing; with perhaps, the one exception of "The Quaker Settlement," in Uncle Tom's Cabin." -- a tempting enough reason to add this classic to a Quaker library.

Extensive notes and commentary are included in this Oxford University Press edition. However, to get the most from this moving tale of America's Underground Railroad and a black family who aspire to escape slavery, postpone reading all those notes until after you've read the story. It was reported that Abraham Lincoln, upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe, said, "So this is the little lady who made this big war".

The little story that's rumored to have started a war. Stowe's book is actually very sympathetic to the plight of America's slaves, particularly for her time period. She viewed them as equal human beings under her Christian God and wanted to show the North the brutality going on in the South. Unfortunately, stage versions and movie versions over-simplified the story, leading to the racist "Tom's" so often associated with the book. ( )