The power of books to start or instigate wars

As Congress considers President Obama's request for support of a strike against Syria, a Los Angeles Times article by Hector Tobar discusses the power of books and writing in impact wars. "Four books on Syria to help understand its troubled history" considers which texts today provide accurate background on Syria, and opens its argument with Harriet Beecher Stowe and the impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

"Books can start wars, or shape how they are fought.

Abraham Lincoln famously told Harriet Beecher Stowe that her book, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” started the Civil War."

Uncle Tom's Cabin contributed to the outbreak of war by personalizing the political and economic arguments about slavery. Stowe's informal, conversational writing style inspired people in a way that political speeches, tracts and newspapers accounts could not. Uncle Tom's Cabin helped many 19th-century Americans determine what kind of country they wanted.

What book today will inspire us, the citizens, to support a particular view on Syria or other issues? How will you use your voice, like Stowe, to have your opinions heard and to change the views of others? 

When Harriet Beecher Stowe met Abraham Lincoln on December 2, 1862, he allegedly greeted her by saying "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." The above statue is at the Lincoln Financial Sculpture Walk in Hartford.