The Confessions of Nat Turner audio book is a magic history lesson that is emotionally and intellectually appealing rich in detail and magnificent in scope. It is also exciting, compelling, powerful and tersely written and should be heard by anyone interested in the history of the United States. This excellent documentary should be part of all American History courses.

For those Americans both black and white, who've dared imagine the the myriad horrors of the slavery system, the audio book by Kente Classics "Americas Black Spartacus Remembered" is a compelling and vivid journey back into one of saddest moments in Americas often violent history. The tape brilliantly deals with the actual confessions given by the captured "Black Spartacus", Nat Turner to attorney Thomas Gray in November 1831 (3 months after the revolt, and just before he was to meet a certain fate of death by hanging). Gray went own to publish "General Nat's" confessions in a pamphlet which was widely read throughout the northern and southern states.

As the tape begins, we hear Gray (stage actor Michael Collins) describe Nat Turner's (stage actor Bernard Addison) entry into the interview room, in heavy chains and shackles from head to toe. From that point forward you we "transported" back in time and space to the very room itself.

One of the great advantages of the audio book as a medium, is its ability, like all great live theatre, to engage you through the aural senses to a place where you feel as though you are there witnessing the event taking place. For entire 1:30 min. playing time, this tape holds you in its grip with chilling descriptions by Turner of how he and his band of "disciples" went about their "work". The horrible result being, the ultimate death of over 30 white slave owners and their families, and the capture and slaughter of over 100 blacks in retailiation by maurauding bans of whites and militias mobilized in response. All this carnage taking place in a few days during August of 1831 in Southampton County Virginia.

Where the tape succeeds in a historical context for those interested in the episode, is we see the obvious impact the event had on the politics of the times, and the vast schism that existed between north and south on the matter of slavery.

Furthemore, because we actually hear the spoken words of Turner himself describe his motivation, objectives, and mental state for his actions, we are provided with a direct contrast to the Pulitzer Prize winning, and widely read book (a novel)"The Confessioins of Nat Turner", written by William Styron and published in 1968.

In a well written afterthought provided at the end of the tape, written by William L. Andrews, a professor at the University of North Carolina, we hear of challenges to the authenticity of Gray's confessions because Gray seems to imbue Turner with far too much intelligence and elegance of speech for a uneducated Negro. Andrews also argues convincely that the ultimate result of the Turner revolt may have mitigated southern anti-slavery sentiments to the point where the final conflict which was the Civil War was inevitable. In this, we see the validity of the comparison of Nat Turner to the Spartacus of 2000 years earlier.

The rest of the cast is equally superb, with Collins doubling as the voice of the Judge, and Shakeperean pro Allen Gilmore playing the voice of the William L. Andrews. The tape is punctuated with 2 very moving musical interludes by the great Odetta which help to add to the emotional impact of this sterling production. The tape jacket provides us with artists reproductions of the scowling Turner and a map of the country side where the revolt took place.

As has been the case with other Kente Classics audio books I have experienced, this tape succeeds because of the historical importance of the subject matter chosen, outstanding quality of the writing and editing, and the professional performances of the actors chosen for the various spoken roles.

I highly recommend this or any of the other titles from this house.

Ever read Washington Irving? Liked it? Then, by all means, read these amazing stories. We would do a great service to American literature to simply REMEMBER this amazing, gifted writer, but the politically-correct powers that be have decreed that we forget him. That, unfortunately, is in vulgar neglect of his contribution to the Romantic literature of the time, which was well known both domestically and abroad. And Simms was no country bumpkin: His stories are inspired by the most important Romantic and Classical works of the past. Read this book. You'll be glad you rediscovered one of America's greatest men of letters.

William Gilmore Simms (1806-1870) of Charleston, South Carolina, was a true literary wonder. The author of some thirty novels, he also wrote poetry, drama, criticism, and history (his history of South Carolina was a much used textbook a century or so ago). And when he was away from his writing desk he managed to find time to edit a number of literary quarterlies and serve a term in the South Carolina legislature.

Despite such prodigious achievements, Simms has largely been overlooked by critics and chroniclers of 19th century American literature, this despite a very generous assessment of his work by such contemporaries as Edgar Allan Poe, who in essence called Simms the best living writer of his day. This neglect has much to do with the fact that Simms was an unapologetic supporter of the Confederate cause in the War Between the States, a definite no-no in our age of hypersensitivity and political correctness. In recent years, however, efforts have been made to rectify this ignorance of Simms's work. John Guilds has done a splendid job of resurrecting much of Simms's more important fiction in an ongoing series of beautiful hardcovers published by The University of Arkansas. And in 1995, Dr. Mary Ann Wimsatt of the University of South Carolina edited this superb collection of some of Simms's best short stories.

Simms was much fascinated with Indian lore and incorporates it in several present tales, including most notably "The Arm Chair of the Tustenuggee", in which a harridan of a wife gets her just desserts with the aid of a haunted tree. Other tales touch on supernatural themes as well, "Grayling" and "The Plank" among them. But it is Simms's penchant for humor and the tall tale which finds the most memorable realization here in two comic masterpieces: "Sharp Snaffles: How He Got His Capital and His Wife" and its sequel (in a sense) "Bald Head Bill Baldy", two outrageous, outlandish, hilarious stories of ordinary men thrust into extraordinary circumstances and using their wit and ingenuity to emerge triumphant.

Aside from the stories themselves, the book offers an additional treasure in Wimsatt's lengthy, perceptive introduction which places the tales in context.

This is a handsome paperback and an important addition to what I hope is a long term revival of Simms's work.

Superb use of historical sources on reading in Vermont, including probate records. A marked contrast to polemical and sloppy books using similar source material (such as Arming America, by Michael Bellesiles). A dry read.

Scouts And Spies Of The Civil War by William Gilmore Beymer (1881-1969) is an amazing collection compiled from both primary and secondary sources, including interviews, diaries, journals, letters, remembrances of family and friends and more. First published at the turn of the nineteenth century in an effort to present a realistic portrayal of spying efforts by both sides during the American Civil (as opposed to overly romanticized "cloak and dagger" accounts in popular fiction and imaginations of the time), Scouts And Spies Of The Civil War has superbly weathered the test of time and is now presented with a new, eye-opening introduction. Edited for contemporary readers by William B. Feis (Associate Professor of History, Buena Vista University), Scouts And Spies Of The Civil War continues to be a welcome and recommended addition to Civil War Studies academic library collections, and Civil War buff reading lists.