Roman Kolsona Uaytheda poluchil neskolko prestizhnyh premiy, gazeta New York Times nazvala ego bestsellerom nomer odin, im voshischayutsya literaturnye kritiki i vidnye obschestvennye deyateli. Eto istoriya o borbe s rabstvom v Amerike XIX veka, i istoricheskaya pravda perepletena v ney ne tolko s hudozhestvennym vymyslom, no i s fantasticheskimi dopuscheniyami. Podzemnoy zheleznoy dorogoy nazyvali organizatsiyu, pomogavshuyu negram dobiratsya s rabovladelcheskogo YUga na Sever, no v knige Uaytheda eto nastoyaschaya zheleznaya doroga, so stantsiyami, poezdami, mashinistami. Imenno po ney uezzhaet yunaya Kora, sbezhavshaya s hlopkovoy plantatsii v Dzhordzhii, po ney puteshestvuet, preodolevaya surovye ispytaniya, po strane, tam zhe nahodit put k spaseniyu.