Ep. 1063 Nat Turner's Rebellion: Why a Historical Novel Was So Controversial

Published: Dec. 19, 2017, 7:36 p.m.

Gene Epstein returns on the 50th anniversary of William Styron's historical novel The Confessions of Nat Turner, the slave who led a famous revolt in Virginia. Since Styron was a white southerner who wrote a Nat Turner novel in the first person, you can imagine the reception he got in certain quarters. The whole episode tells us a great deal about American society and intellectual life.