Written by American author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel and the second best-selling book of the 19th century, following the Bible. The novel had a profound impact to the abolitionist movement and is said to have helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War. While Uncle Tom's Cabin illustrates the dark side of slavery, its strong characters and their inspiring actions demonstrate the resilience of those with Christian faith and how that faith can help overcome the worst circumstances. The influence attributed to the book was so great that a likely apocryphal story arose of Abraham Lincoln meeting Stowe at the start of the Civil War and declaring, "So this is the little lady who started this great war.".