The Fires of Jubilee : Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion

The bloody slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in Virginia in 1831 and the savage reprisals that followed shattered beyond repair the myth of the contented slave and the benign master, and intensified the forces of change that would plunge America into the bloodbath of the Civil War. Stephen B. Oates, the acclaimed biographer of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., presents a gripping and insightful account of the rebellionthe complex, gifted, and driven man who led it, the social conditions that produced it, and the legacy it left. A classic now newly reissued for the first time in more than twenty years, here is the dramatic re-creation of the turbulent period that marked a crucial turning point in America's history. “A penetrating reconstruction of the most disturbing and crucial slave uprising in America's history”—with the full text of The Confessions of Nat Turner (New York Times).In August of 1831, the enslaved carpenter and preacher Nat Turner led an anti-slavery uprising in Virginia. It lasted several days before state militias captured Turner and put him on trial. Before he was executed, Turner recounted the unbearable conditions he endured and how he secretly built support for his cause over many years. Turner's Rebellion, and the savage reprisals that followed, shattered longstanding myths of the contented slave and the benign master.Turner's story and tactics also inspired the abolitionist movement, intensifying the forces of change that would plunge America into Civil War. Stephen B. Oates, the celebrated biographer of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., presents a gripping and insightful narrative of the rebellion—the complex, gifted, and driven man who led it, the social conditions that produced it, and the legacy it left. The Fires of Jubilee is a classic wok of American history. This new edition includes the text of the original 1831 court document'The Confessions of Nat Turner.' "The dramatic portrayal of Nat Turner, the enigmatic visionary who led a bloody slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831. Nat Turner spent an idyllic childhood believing that he was destined for great things. In his 13th year, however, his white playmates went off to school, and he was forced to endless labor in the cotton fields. Amid the brutality of slavery and the turmoil of the era, he became a prophet to his oppressed people, and he began to see signs and visions of Judgment Day. His visions culminated in the bloody massacre of more than sixty white people and the public hanging of about two hundred blacks that resulted. Nat Turner's rebellion proved itself to be crucial as a precursor of the Civil War."--Publisher's web site

The bloody slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in Virginia in 1831, and the savage reprisals that followed, shattered beyond repair the myth of the contented slave and the benign master and intensified the forces of change that would plunge America into the bloodbath of the Civil War.

New York Times

"A penetrating reconstruction of the most disturbing and crucial slave uprising in America's history. . . . A vivid and excellent narrative account.

He was living in the innocent season of his life, in those carefree years before the working age of twelve when a slave boy could romp and run about the plantation with uninhibited glee. Portrays America's most famous slave rebel and the insurrection he led in southeastern Virginia's Southampton County in August, 1831.