Nat Turner, Black Prophet

Nat Turner, Black Prophet is the fullest recounting to date of Nat’s uprising, and the first that refuses to tame or ignore his divine visions. It reveals how the direct revelations from God that Nat described were central to his authority as a leader, and sets his prophecies in the context of nineteenth-century Methodism, with its revivals, camp meetings, interracial churches, and Black preachers. The rebellion and its aftermath marked a significant turning point, with Southern states further restricting the personal freedoms of the enslaved as the ongoing threat of revolt shaped the country’s politics. With this work of narrative history, the late historian Anthony E. Kaye and his collaborator Gregory P. Downs have given us a new understanding of one of the nineteenth century’s most decisive events.