Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American writer and philanthropist, the author of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which contributed so much to popular feeling against slavery that it is cited among the causes of the American Civil War. Stowe wrote 30 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential for both her writings and her public stances and debates on social issues of the day. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was first published in 1852. In 1855, three years after it was published, it was called "the most popular novel of our day." The impact attributed to the book is great, reinforced by a story that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the Civil War, Lincoln declared, "So this is the little lady who started this great war.” The quote is apocryphal; it did not appear in print until 1896, and it has been argued that "The long-term durability of Lincoln's greeting as an anecdote in literary studies and Stowe scholarship can perhaps be explained in part by the desire among many contemporary intellectuals ... to affirm the role of literature as an agent of social change." The novel tells the story of Tom, an honourable, unselfish slave who’s taken from his wife and children to be sold at auction. On a slave transport ship, he saves the life of Eva, a white girl from a wealthy family. Eva’s father purchases Tom, and Tom and Eva become good friends. You can listen online to free English audiobook “Uncle Tom's Cabin. Part 2” by Harriet Beecher Stowe on our website.
