What does it mean to be free?

The first black hero of literature, Harriet Beecher Stowe's Tom is a slave who suffers for refusing to obey his white oppressors. Few books have changed the world as much as Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was published in 1852, nine years before the start of the American Civil War. It galvanized opposition to slavery in the free states, vividly dramatizing slavery's cruelties for mass audiences. This elegantly designed clothbound edition features an elastic closure and a new introduction.

The Knickerbocker Classics bring together the works of classic authors from around the world in stunning gift editions to be collected and enjoyed. Complete and unabridged, these elegantly designed cloth-bound hardcovers feature a slipcase and ribbon marker, as well as a comprehensive introduction providing the reader with enlightening information on the author's life and works.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) was a prolific American writer and an activist for the abolition of slavery. Best known for her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, she wrote thirty books, including novels, memoirs, and collections of articles and letters.

Karen Fisher Younger is chairperson of the humanities department and assistant professor of history at Waynesburg University. She is the author of numerous articles and essays on the slave trade, colonization, and Liberia, and is editor of Lincoln's Proclamation: Emancipation Reconsidered (University of North Carolina Press, 2009).