Written partly in response to the criticisms of Uncle Tom's Cabin by both white Southerners and black abolitionists, Dred (1856) extends the plantation novel to examine, in the words of the author, "the views and reasonings of those who have bowed down to the yoke, and felt the iron enter their souls." Through the compelling stories of Nina Gordon, the mistress of a slave plantation, and Dred, a black revolutionary, Stowe brings to life conflicting beliefs about race, the institution of slavery, and the need for the radical action that erupted during the 1850s. Exploring the political and spiritual goals that fuel Dred's rebellion, she creates a figure far different from the acquiescent Christian martyr, Uncle Tom.A bestseller in its day, and praised by many of Stowe's contemporaries including George Eliot, Dred deserves to be read in tandem with Uncle Tom's Cabin and for its compelling story.

Penguin: 2000.
ISBN: 9780140439045. 656 pp.
Paperback. Very good.