Nat Turner's name rings through American history with a force all its own. Leader of the most important slave rebellion on these shores; variously viewed as a murderer of unarmed women and children; an inspired religious leader; a fanatic--this puzzling figure represents all the terrible complexities of American slavery. And yet we do not know what he looked like; where he is buried; or even whether Nat Turner was his real name. In Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory; Kenneth S. Greenberg gathers twelve distinguished scholars to offer provocative new insight into the man; his rebellion; and his time; and his place in history. The historians here explore Turner's slave community; discussing the support for his uprising as well as the religious and literary context of his movement. They examine the place of women in his insurrection; and its far-reaching consequences (including an extraordinary 1832 Virginia debate about ridding the state of slavery). Here are discussions of Turner's religious visions--the instructions he received from God to kill all of his white oppressors. Louis Masur places him against the backdrop of the nation's sectional crisis; and Douglas Egerton puts his revolt in the context of rebellions across the Americas. We trace Turner's passage through American memory through fascinating interviews with William Styron on his landmark novel; The Confessions of Nat Turner; and with Dr. Alvin Poussaint; one of the "ten black writers" of the 1960s who bitterly attacked Styron's vision of Turner. Finally; we follow Nat Turner into the world of Hollywood. Nat Turner has always been controversial; an emblem of the searing wound of slavery in American life. This book offers a clear-eyed look at one of the best known and least understood figures in our history.
#64356 in Books Lawrence H Keeley 1997-12-18Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 5.30 x .60 x 7.90l; .52 #File Name: 0195119126272 pagesWar Before Civilization
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. It Didn't Start with EgyptBy P. WeiserThe thrust of this book is the auithor's thesis that war; however defined; was at least as prevalent in prehistory as in historic times; with all the horrors we see today or in our previous century. His evidence from archaeology and ethnology is very convincing; entertainingly rendered; with flashes of both humor and pathos. Though his attempts at drawing conclusions about how to secure peace do not quite fit the project; on the whole this will prove interesting to both lay hobyists (of military history) and; perhaps; professional military (for pointing out how little military science has actually advanced since earliest human prehistory; and what we have to learn from "primitive" warriors).Kindle Edition: Regional and geographic maps hard to read on my Kindle Keyboard; archaeological site maps OK; cave paintings rendered well. Characteristic typos: inappropriate capitalization (word capitalized in mid-sentence) and exchanging "die" for "the" - if a sentence doesn't make sense; substitute "the" for "die" or vice versa. Typos do not seriously detract; but look slightly unprofessional.(My objection; which may be more appropriate to a scholarly journal: the taphonomic filter. I question drawing conclusions about what percentage of an ancient population died by war or murder by counting skeletons with marks of human violence such as embedded projectile points and ax injuries. Which is more likely to be found archaeologically: a hunter or trekker who died alone and had his bones scattered by scavengers; or one that died with at least one other human nearby (his killer); who would then have done something orderly about the corpse if only to get it out of sight and smell?)1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Conclusive without getting caught in the culture warsBy R. MorrellThe myth of the peaceful primitive has; along with our strange concept of "natural" foods been something I could never understand. How could academia ignore so much evidence? This book; without vindictiveness (at least too much) lays out the debate; and the crushing evidence of our early warlike nature (and by comparison; more peaceful modern history) and then explores the issues in serious; sometime deep detail. Issues about consideration of tactics and strategy are considered.About the only thing that was not covered as much as I would have liked was the effect that the constant war had on early migration and social change (preventing settlements until watchdogs; driving rapid expansion across the globe etc.)Perhaps that is another book. This book is about explaining why we thought early man was peaceful and how very very wrong we were.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An Excellent SurveyBy Zachary ColvinThis book should be required reading in any college history class that deals with primitivism or the social politics that go into it. It provides an especially interesting counter point to such works A History of Anarchism.
