Cover of Dred

Dred

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

First published
1856
Reading level
Plain English
Price
Free

About the book

"Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp" by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a novel published in 1856. The story follows Nina Gordon, a young plantation heiress, and the enslaved people on her failing estate, including her capable administrator Harry and the devout Milly. At its center stands Dred, a revolutionary maroon leader hiding in the Great Dismal Swamp, who preaches violent retribution against slavery. Stowe's second anti-slavery novel presents a more radical vision than "Uncle Tom's Cabin," featuring a black revolutionary inspired by real slave insurrection leaders.

  • Didactic fiction
  • Political fiction
  • African Americans
  • Fugitive slaves
  • Slave insurrections
  • Dismal Swamp (N.C. and Va.)

Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #55012. Dred on Wikipedia.

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