el was surprising. The Under Ground railroad was previously the only anti-slavery literature that I had been exposed to. The book illustrates in depth Nat Turners beliefs on his being Gods disciple:Now at last it was clear. By signs in the heavens would Jehovah show Nat when to commence his great work (Oates, 41).Whereupon Nat declared: I shall rise and prepare myself, and slay my enemies with their own weapons (Oates, 41). Despite Oates graphical content, overall the book was appealing and out of the ordinary in comparison to usual high school material. The highlights of the book were the gruesome brutality and the aftermath of the whites slaughtering the innocent black slaves. In the beginning, and again near the end of the novel, some aspects of what the author was trying to interpret were a bit confusing. Oates enlightens the reader on governor Floyds position in not liberating the slaves, but at the end Floyd changes his position and contemplates freeing the slaves to stop any future rebellions. This aspect of the book was to some extent hard to capture because of the way Oates interpreted Floyd as a strong governor in the beginning. The ideals and theology of Stephen B. Oates book Fire of Jubilee captures a sensitive era. Even today, many Blacks in South Hampton County consider Nats insurrection as a legend of possibly one of the first slave rebellions that took place. I would recommend this book to any student who is interested in American History....
