Uncle Tom's Cabin

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. <i>Uncle Tom's Cabin</i> was revolutionary in 1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, &quot;a man of humanity,&quot; 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 &quot;the peculiar institution&quot; and documenting, in heartrending detail, the tragic breakup of black Kentucky families &quot;sold down the river.&quot; An immediate international sensation, <i>Uncle Tom's Cabin</i> 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.