Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace published on November 12, 1880 by Harper & Brothers. Considered 'the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century', it was the best-selling American novel from the time of its publication, superseding Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). It remained at the top until the publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (1936).