How Harriet Beecher Stowe came to write Uncle Tom's Cabin

It was the most "cussed and discussed" book of the 1850s, and the first international bestseller

It was on March 20, 1852 that Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was published in book form. It had been serialized in an abolitionist newspaper before then, gathering momentum (and readers) along the way. Let’s celebrate its 173rd (!) birthday a day early.

So yes, it was the first American book to have earned the distinction of international be…