Stephen B. Oates, the author, recalls the unlawful accounts of Nat's mother, Nancy, while being forced into slavery. Being just a teenage, she was abducted in North's Nile River Country by slave raiders. She was then marched hundreds of mils to the coast and sold to the Europeans. She endured the "middle passage" which was the dreaded voyage of being in a crammed small area with many other chained Africans. The results of this torment included suicide, starvation, and death from white man's disease. It was also noted that Nancy tried to kill her baby, Nat, so that she did not have to see him suffer the cruelties of slavery. At an early age Nancy had noticed a special gift that Nat had, such as when he was able to tell stories about his mother before he was born that were never told to him directly.
             Stephen Oates has a way of writing that transforms the reader into the actual rebellion and allows one to see and feel the circumstances before, during and after the Nat Turner insurrection and the consequences of it to the South.Oates clearly did extensive research on his subject. He manages to unearth many new facts about Nat Turner that were previously unknown. Oates presents a vivid picture of what Nat Turner's life must have been like as a slave. He presents enough facts about Nat Turner to give the reader the beginnings of an idea of what motivated the man. He describes in detail the visions that Nat claimed to have had and the formations of the planned rebellion. Then, once the rebellion starts, Oates gives a moment by moment account.
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