Dred, A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
This is Stowe's second book, another one depicting the horrors of southern slavery, published 4 years after Uncle Tom's Cabin and 5 years before the commencement of the Civil War, when new territories wanting admittance into the US (Texas, Oklahoma, name the states), were vying to become slave states, threatening to spread the heinous system. While a work of fiction, the book successfully documents the horrors of the slave system, and depicts how some slaves escaped into the Dismal Swamp (a real place spreading over a million acres in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina), where they often lived for years hiding from their pursuers, often in community. Dred, one of Stowe's most unusual heroic characters, proclaims his mission as follows: ". . .the burden of the Lord is upon me . . . to show unto this people their iniquity, and be a sign unto this evil nation!'" The book depicts that slaves were not all passive victims, as so often portrayed, and had many white sympathizers, but all were caught in the grips of a legal system so stacked against them that nobody could overturn it without threats to life and limb. The book was welcomed by the anti-slavery movement in Europe as well as in America, and helped move the needle of sympathy to finally overthrowing the system. - Summary by Michele Fry (25 hr 41 min)
Chapters
00. Preface | 5:29 | Read by Michele Fry |
01. The Mistress of Canema | 21:44 | Read by Michele Fry |
02. Clayton | 28:35 | Read by William Allan Jones |
03. The Clayton Family and Sister Anne | 25:02 | Read by William Allan Jones |
04. The Gordon Family | 46:34 | Read by Michele Fry |
05. Harry and his Wife | 39:00 | Read by William Allan Jones |
06. The Dilemma | 25:22 | Read by Michele Fry |
07. Consultation | 10:02 | Read by Michele Fry |
08. Old Tiff | 51:16 | Read by William Allan Jones |
09. The Death | 11:29 | Read by Michele Fry |
10. The Preparation | 24:09 | Read by Michele Fry |
11. The Lovers | 28:30 | Read by Michele Fry |
12. Explanations | 36:59 | Read by Michele Fry |
13. Tom Gordon | 40:19 | Read by Michele Fry |
14. Aunt Nesbit's Loss | 22:00 | Read by Michele Fry |
15. Mr. Jekyl's Opinions | 14:19 | Read by Michele Fry |
16. Milly's Story | 40:30 | Read by Michele Fry |
17. Uncle John | 29:19 | Read by Greg Giordano |
18. Dred | 19:43 | Read by William Allan Jones |
19. The Conspirators | 27:02 | Read by Larry Wilson |
20. Summer Talk at Canema | 25:57 | Read by Michele Fry |
21. Tiff's Preparations | 19:11 | Read by William Allan Jones |
22. The Worshippers | 35:59 | Read by William Allan Jones |
23a. The Camp Meeting | 35:34 | Read by Michele Fry |
23b. The Camp Meeting | 42:49 | Read by Michele Fry |
24. Life in the Swamps | 20:51 | Read by William Allan Jones |
25. More Summer Talk | 33:07 | Read by Michele Fry |
26. Milly's Return | 12:35 | Read by Michele Fry |
27. The Trial | 19:25 | Read by William Allan Jones |
28. Magnolia Grove | 36:27 | Read by Michele Fry |
29. The Troubadour | 26:26 | Read by Michele Fry |
30. Tiff's Garden | 20:46 | Read by Michele Fry |
31. The Warning | 12:36 | Read by John |
32. The Morning Star | 14:18 | Read by Michele Fry |
33. The Legal Decision | 28:54 | Read by William Allan Jones |
34. The Cloud Bursts | 25:43 | Read by Michele Fry |
35. The Voice in the Wilderness | 12:01 | Read by John |
36. The Evening Star | 17:19 | Read by Michele Fry |
37. The Tie Breaks | 17:33 | Read by Kathleen Moore |
38. The Purpose | 18:26 | Read by Kathleen Moore |
39. The New Mother | 15:25 | Read by Kathleen Moore |
40. The Flight into Egypt | 30:28 | Read by Kathleen Moore |
41. The Clerical Conference | 30:07 | Read by Larry Wilson |
42. The Result | 24:18 | Read by William Allan Jones |
43. The Slave's Argument | 28:01 | Read by William Allan Jones |
44. The Desert | 23:12 | Read by William Allan Jones |
45. Jegar Sahadutha | 30:56 | Read by William Allan Jones |
46. Frank Russel's Opinions | 23:22 | Read by William Allan Jones |
47. Tom Gordon's Plans | 13:50 | Read by John |
48. Lynch Law | 29:22 | Read by KevinS |
49. More Violence | 13:57 | Read by KevinS |
50. Engedi | 22:31 | Read by Greg Giordano |
51. The Slave Hunt | 13:29 | Read by William Allan Jones |
52. ''All Over'' | 17:38 | Read by William Allan Jones |
53. The Burial | 12:50 | Read by John |
54. The Escape | 19:44 | Read by Pete McElveen |
55. Lynch Law Again | 28:50 | Read by Pete McElveen |
56. Flight | 14:18 | Read by Pete McElveen |
57. Clear Shining after Rain | 10:04 | Read by KevinS |
APPENDIX I | 29:00 | Read by KevinS |
APPENDIX II | 33:26 | Read by KevinS |
APPENDIX III | 48:33 | Read by William Allan Jones |
Reviews
Stephen Lowe
well read....found it more meaningful and clear than Uncle Tom's Cabin. Should be a movie.
Magnificent in scope, horrible in fact, beauty amidst pathos.
Michele Fry
A very worthwhile listen, and for a group project, all the readers brought authenticity to their roles. Dred especially outdid himself. Nina gave it her all, especially considering her transformation from flibbertygibit girl to mature leader. All was handled with believable seriousness by Stowe, largely resting her fiction on facts.