Although slavery is illegal throughout the world, it has previously been noted by the author of this book that more than twenty-seven million people—in countries from Pakistan to Thailand to the United States—are still trapped in bondage. The book looks beyond the specific instances of slavery described previously to explore broader themes about slavery's causes, its continuation, and how it might be ended. Written to raise awareness and deepen understanding, and touching again on individual lives around the world, it tackles head-on one of the most urgent and difficult problems facing us toda ... More

Although slavery is illegal throughout the world, it has previously been noted by the author of this book that more than twenty-seven million people—in countries from Pakistan to Thailand to the United States—are still trapped in bondage. The book looks beyond the specific instances of slavery described previously to explore broader themes about slavery's causes, its continuation, and how it might be ended. Written to raise awareness and deepen understanding, and touching again on individual lives around the world, it tackles head-on one of the most urgent and difficult problems facing us today. Each of the chapters explores a different facet of global slavery. The book investigates slavery's historical roots to illuminate today's puzzles, and explores our basic ideas about what slavery is and how the phenomenon fits into our moral, political, and economic worlds. It seeks to explain how human trafficking brings people into our cities; how the demand for trafficked workers, servants, and prostitutes shapes modern slavery; and asks how we can study and measure this mostly hidden crime. Throughout, the book emphasizes that to end global slavery, we must first understand it.