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[potential edits to TRGray article]

Legacy
In the 1960s, William Styron published a fictional and controversial account of the Nat Turner rebellion using the same title as Gray's pamphlet, The Confessions of Nat Turner. Thomas Gray's pamphlet, the Confessions of Nat Turner, was the first document claiming to present Nat Turner's words regarding the rebellion and his life.

Although the pamphlet is a primary source, some historians and literary scholars have found bias in Gray's writing indicating that Gray may not have portrayed Turner's voice as accurately as he claimed to have done. Kenneth S. Greenberg, professor, and Chair of the History Department at Suffolk University explains in his book Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory, why Gray's book is not as reliable as one may think, cautioning readers to analyze the source with great care. On the other hand, other scholars have extensively analyzed Gray's confession and have deemed it to be an, overall, reliable source. Christopher Tomlins, a professor in the Legal Studies department at UC Berkely's Law School, mentioned in an essay on the Confessions, that despite Gray's indirect transcription of Turner's words the source is a largely accurate narrative based on an extensive interview with the rebellion's leader. Although, similar to Greenberg, Tomlins stressed the importance of caution in regard to using the confessions as historical evidence.