Black Thunder: Gabriel's Revolt: Virginia, 1800

by Arna Bontemps

"Gabriel Prosser's 1800 slave revolt allowed Bontemps to warn of the rebellion that would come of poverty and racial oppression. This metaphor of revolution is at the same time a highly pertinent representation of black masculinity that will reward students of gender, slavery and the sensibilities of the 1930s." —Nell Irvin Painter

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, African American, American, Race, College, Classics

248 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Works of poetry, history, and fiction, such as God Sends Sunday (1931) and Black Thunder (1936), established American writer Arna Wendell Bontemps as a leading figure of the renaissance of Harlem.

People note Arnaud Wendell Bontemps, an African novelist and librarian, as a member.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arna_Bo...

Reviews

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a most impressive, wonderful, lyrical and engaging historical novel about one of the first recorded slave revolts in America. Writing at the tail end of the Harlem Renaissance, Bontemps benefits both from previous writers in that movement as well as the modernist experimentation of William Faulkner (Bontemps's use of modernist techniques if more pointed and less complicated that Faulkner's, mainly being used to express, in dialect, the thoughts of his characters without recourse to quotation marks or italics). One of the great things about this historical novel is that, despite the reader knowing exactly how it will end, Bontemps turns the events of this failed uprising into a _living_ process that he demonstrates continued through to the time of his composition of the work (1936). He does this through the selective use of anachronistic elements (for example, the use by revolutionary characters in the novel of the term "proletariat," or the detail that some of the slaves are wearing jeans) that link the fight for freedom and equality in 1800 to the fight for labor and civil rights during the Great Depression. Bontemps also displays empathy for the characters who do not wish to participate in the revolt because they do not wish to be involved in the death of people, even if they are white oppressors. It is clear that Bontemps sides with the slave uprising, but he also allows for great complexity and conflicting emotions in his characters, making, for example, Ben, the servant in charge of one of the plantation houses, a deeper character than the usual stereotype of the "house slave" usually accounts for. There are also lovely poetic figures: storms, autumn leaves, blood, among others. I think this is a great achievement of American and African-American literature that deserves more study and attention than it currently receives.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a huge impact on me, though maybe not in the sense you may think. Growing up in Richmond, VA, we had a years of local history, American history, etc., and the teachers always made sure to make Black History Month a keynote in our historical instruction. But somehow they managed to miss the story of Gabriel Prosser's attempted slave revolt. I had to go to an LDS university and do some extracurricular reading to learn about that. It doesn't seem quite right.
As for the text itself, Bontemps writes a straight-forward account, grounded more or less on his historical research, on various lives intertwined with the revolt. His depiction of Gabriel is memorable, as is the conflicted Ben, the vain Pharaoh, and a few others. The narrative alternatively races and slow almost to a halt, allowing you to hear the heartbeats of those marching through a swamp to grasp their freedom by any means necessary.
Most significant to me was the yearning I could sense from Bontempts pen follow, in a sense, Gabriel's example. This book, written at the end of the "Harlem" Renaissance (it was written in Los Angeles), and reprinted during the Black Power movement with the hope of gaining a little more recognition, this story is an analogue for struggle of many generations after Gabriel Prosser who still weren't quite equal.

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting, immersive, a great work of literature... like the title, it just rolls along like a heavy dub track.

Reading it, I was thinking, "Why have I taken so long to get to this?" But when I finished I was thinking it's because Bontemps just doesn't get the love he should. I feel like Arna Bontemps is just invisible when he should be all up in everyone's face. I would suggest that every time Huckleberry Finn is challenged by parents, teachers offer this as an alternative. That would really start some productive discussions about the n-word, not to mention a whole lot of other things.

I always get a little thrill when in the author's bio it says "Librarian." But apparently he wrote this before he got his MLS in Chicago and started librating at Fisk.

When I finished this, I reached for my The Oxford Companion to African American Literature and found I had dog-eared the page where Bontemps' entry is. What? How long have I been meaning to read him? And then the whole old track of thoughts about why does African American culture fascinate me so much, why does a novel like this speak to me so much more strongly than 'The Great Gatsby' or more to the point, Isaac Bashevis Singer?

Yeah, well, I have some theories, but I'm not going to embarrass myself by hinting at them here.

I haven't seen that new "Birth of a Nation" film, the one about Nat Turner, but I'm guessing if you liked that, you'll love this.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1800 the American and French revolutions were quite fresh, and this revolutionary spirit was sweeping the entire western world. This book is a fictionalized retelling of an actual slave revolt that took place in Virginia.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this what is meant by Historical Fiction. Huh.

There's an inherent bone to choke on baked into this sort of thing, being constrained to the larger talking points of fact. Fun fact: fiction hinges around one proposition: fuck fact. I agree with this as an operating axiom.

Still and all (I am writing in my Southern Belle outfit), there are sustained passages of plain gorgeous writing. Take note that the novel was released in 1936, not the '68 said here; while it was doubtlessly a cash in on the 'agitated' and more, umm, demanding actors in the Civil Rights tits-up of the latter 1960s (that means 'Black'), its larger themes are as porous as they are permeable. They will hold until such a time as they have no modern analogues. Begin holding breath...now.

Wanna bet which holds the longer? The motherfuckers.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one for a grad school class and I liked it - even more so because of its place in history. Written in the 1930s, it was obscure until reprinted in the 1960s just after MLK was murdered. It tells the tale of enslaved Gabriel and his revolt against slave owners in Virginia and it's based on fact. It's fascinating in the Bontemps jumps around the POV a lot (it's very cinematic) to give an overarching view of all the factors that came into play. It's not easy reading but it's definitely worth it!

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic tale from a slave's perspective

Bontemps' tale provides an interesting view of what the slaves could have felt during the days before and after the attempted insurrection. The focus throughout is black men and women and their hopes and feelings without totally ignoring the horrors of slavery itself.

[Sandra The Old Woman in a Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This novel written in 1930 should be in everyone’s high school US Lit course. It is a historical fiction recounting of Gabriel’s Rebellion in 1800 Richmond VA. First it was written with magnificent prose. I stopped often just to reread some sentences and metaphors, they were so striking. Second, it tells an often unknown and untold part of our history. For me it tied other bits of history together with the several larger slave revolts in the US: the Haitian victory by slaves, the French Revolution, and the approximation of the John Adams/Thomas Jefferson feud.I knew some of these events as isolated events, but by reading this novel I saw the interdependencies. Not only did I read a masterpiece of fiction, it also taught me some history I won’t forget.

Also, this book takes me to Tennessee for my US State reading challenge. My goal is to have all BIPOC or LGBTQ related. This author was on faculty at Fisk U in TN. He actually wrote the book while in The Watts neighborhood in LA at his father’s house, so it could also work for CA.

[Vivian Zenari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the strange leaps between the subplots and the many shifts into interior monologue. It read it compulsively even though I knew what its sad conclusion would be.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting read of a fictitious, doomed slave revolt that took place in Virginia, 1800. I haven’t read “Ten Years a Slave,” but it made me wonder how it would compare, having been written much later. Mr. Bontemps was part of the Harlem Renaissance, and I’d like to know more about his purpose in writing this. It is quite gripping. I did find some of the descriptions of characters a bit racist, even by 1930 standards, so wasn’t sure what the point was. But as a whole, this really wa a good read.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Thunder covers an important historical event that I, and probably most of you, never heard of. In 1800, Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved man, lead a rebellion in Virginia. Given the year and place of the rebellion, it comes as no surprise that the rebellion was violently quashed. What was surprising, to me anyway, is that the book was written in 1936 by Arna Bontemps, an African-American.

At once, inspirational and horrifying, I highly recommend this book.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read for a class. I understand its importance but I didn't find anything I could personally connect to that would make me love this.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gabriel Prosser rebellion.

[Edward Champion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Major points for covering a forgotten historical event, but nothing special.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. A truly underrated writer.

[Jeffrey Caliedo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Underrated historical fiction. Course requirement turned favorite

[Winston Langham]

From Bro Grand Chaplain on 11/21/25

[toria · Rating 3 out of 5]

love

[Hans Ostrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine historical novel based on an actual slave-revolt led by Gabriel Prosser, one that sent shock-waves throughout the South. Very well plotted, with a brisk vivid style and nuanced character development. It also brings in the wider context of radical, French-influenced politics, which also had the South worried. A quick, satisfying, smart novel.

[Sheehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't love some graphic slave rebellion stories?