Many believe that Uncle Tom's Cabin was a big factor in the lead up to the Civil War. Regardless of whether or not Stowe's classic was one of the causes of the Civil War, its importance in U.S. history can't be overstated. From the preface: "IF ever a nation were taken by storm by a book, England has recently been stormed by "Uncle Tom's Cabin." It is scarcely three months since this book was first introduced to the British Reader, and it is certain that at least 1,000,000 copies of it have been printed and sold. The unexampled success of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" will ever be recorded as an...