In the Matter of Nat Turner

A Speculative History by Christopher Tomlins. We know almost nothing about Nat Turner. The historian Kenneth Greenberg describes him as “the most famous, least -known person in American History. He has no gravesite, no remains; there is no likeness of him. The account of his life and rebellion, given in chains as he awaited trial in jail, was written down by an opportunistic white attorney and sold as a pamphlet to cash in on Turner’s notoriety. In the Matter of Nat Turner is an attempt to recover a historical figure and his way of thinking. Tomlin offers an original and incisive of the Turner Rebellion itself and its impact on Virginia politics, as well as a critical examination of William Styron’s 1967 novel, The Confessions of Nat Turner.