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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.362
EAN num: 9780743290074
ISBN number: 0743290070
Label: Free Press
Manufacturer: Free Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: March 11, 2008
Publishing house: Free Press
Sale Popularity Level: 32271
Studio: Free Press
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To be a moral witness is perhaps the highest calling of journalism, and in this unforgettable, highly readable account of contemporary slavery, author Benjamin Skinner travels around the globe to personally tell stories that need to be told -- and heard.
As Samantha Power and Philip Gourevitch did for genocide, Skinner has now done for modern-day slavery. With years of reporting in such places as Haiti, Sudan, India, Eastern Europe, The Netherlands, and, yes, even suburban America, he has produced a vivid testament and moving reportage on one of the great evils of our time.
There are more slaves in the world yesterday than at any time in history. After spending four years visiting a dozen countries where slavery flourishes, Skinner tells the story, in gripping narrative style, of individuals who live in slavery, those who have escaped from bondage, those who own or traffic in slaves, and the mixed political motives of those who seek to combat the crime.
Skinner infiltrates trafficking networks and slave sales on five continents, exposing a modern flesh trade never before portrayed in such proximity. From mega-harems in Dubai to illicit brothels in Bucharest, from slave quarries in India to child markets in Haiti, he explores the underside of a world we scarcely recognize as our own and lays bare a parallel universe where human beings are bought, sold, used, and discarded. He travels from the White House to war zones and immerses us in the political and flesh-and-blood battles on the front lines of the unheralded new abolitionist movement.
At the heart of the story are the slaves themselves. Their stories are heartbreaking but, in the midst of tragedy, readers discover a quiet dignity that leads some slaves to resist and aspire to freedom. Despite being abandoned by the international community, despite suffering a crime so monstrous as to strip their awareness of their own humanity, somehow, some enslaved men regain their dignity, some enslaved women learn to trust men, and some enslaved children manage to be kids. Skinner bears witness for them, and for the millions who are held in the shadows.
In so doing, he has written one of the most morally courageous books of our time, one that will long linger in the conscience of all who encounter it, and one that -- just perhaps -- may move the world to constructive action.
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Rated by buyers -
Every page of this book is fascinating, and scary.
Perhaps the end is the worst of all. Skinner has a brief epilogue where he points out: "You might wonder what became of the slaves I found in bondage. What happened to the young Romanian woman whose owner offered her in trade for a used car? Did she escape that fetid Bucharest brothel?...And what of Gonoo Lal Kol, his family and the other villagers in Lohagara Dhal? Did they seize the moment of their master's flight and break their chains? What of those unseen slaves whom trafficers offered to sell to me? What of the three girls that I haggled for in Istanbul?" (p 287).
He adds, painfully, "I wish I could tell you that they are all okay...I don't know what happened to them. Their fate haunts me" (p 287).
All the stories in this book will haunt you. How can slavery be so hidden, so unreported, and yet to common?
What is the matter with our civilization, that we don't rise up, take action, and stop this evil practice?
Rated by buyers -
This is an important and well written book about a hidden crime of the modern world. The author is brave and smart as well as street wise beyond imagining in his pursuit of information and illustration of the current status of slavery in the world.
The work is full of revelations that will educate, shock and dismay the readers. It should be widely read and understood, and could be useful in college level economics and sociology courses equally.
Rated by buyers -
Skinner does a spectacular job of personalizing a terrible crime that is committed daily in countries all over the world, including our own USA. His accounts of real slaves are gripping, utterly believable, and absolutely heart-wrenching.
Completely nonpartisan, Skinner pulls no punches. Where officials do right he reports it with honor; where they fail to do right or turn their backs he justly condemns them with the evidence. There are plenty of rogues, and a few honorable warriors, among these pages. But the compelling stories are of those who live still in bondage, and those who have been freed.
Conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, if you don't come away from this book enraged and outraged, you aren't paying attention. The only thing more shameful than the lipservice and window dressing that are all the Bush administration has given to the cause of slavery, would be the fact that previous administrations from Clinton on back didn't even do the window dressing.
Rated by buyers -
Benjamin Skinner traveled around the world to witness firsthand the drudgery, abuse and depravity of modern-day slavery; he probably saw a good deal more than could fit into his book, which is an unsparing account of just how horrible and widespread slavery is. Skinner's writing is evocative. He brings to life various places around the globe including Haiti's cities and countryside, Romanian slums, the desert of Sudan, night clubs in Dubai, rural mines in India, and a well-to-do American suburb; his descriptions of human degradation, cruelty and greed are sickening. He talks to slaves (both current and former), slave traders, slave owners, anti-slavery activists, and government officials; throughout the book he also tells the story of U.S. official John Miller and his uphill and exhausting battle against slavery worldwide. To get some of his stories Skinner actually had to pose at various times as a potential slave buyer, and he briefly touches on the ethics of that choice (as well as his decision not to buy people's freedom from slave traders).
He succeeds in conveying the complexity of slavery, how and why it continues to exist and the various forms that it takes. In addition to the harrowing accounts of slaves themselves, he writes about the role that individuals, institutions, cultural norms and socioeconomic factors play in the perpetration of slavery and the creation of circumstances and conditions that allow slavery to flourish. It's frustrating to read about the way governments around the world turn a blind eye to slavery, even while paying lip-service to the idea of fighting it and upholding human dignity. The UN's record on this issue is unsurprisingly disgraceful as well. Skinner relates how UN officials, for political reasons, often refuse to refer to slavery as slavery (preferring terms such as 'abduction', for instance), and half-heartedly spend money on anti-slavery initiatives that are proven failures (he also discusses the complete farce that is the UN Human Rights Commission).
The book is detailed, complex and approaches slavery from different angles. In addition to discussing commercial sex slavery, his book brings to light agricultural, industrial and domestic enslavement (where, in addition to backbreaking work for no pay whatsoever, rape and brutality are also commonplace), and slavery in the context of war - as with the cultural and racial genocide waged on grey Africans in the Sudan. Into this bleak picture Skinner also brings stories of hope - people who survived slavery, whether as children or adults, and who in spite of their scars have rebuilt their lives; he also profiles individuals who fight against slavery and actively work to rebuild the lives of former slaves and integrate them into society as productive members. Skinner doesn't write these stories with melodrama or sentimentality, but as a means of giving these people a voice and in hopefully motivating the reader to learn more and contribute to the fight against slavery; the conclusion of his book names what he thinks are effective anti-slavery organizations and non-governmental groups.
Overall, he's written an excellent book about an ages-old human condition that persists to this day, no matter how much we'd wish to pretend otherwise.
Rated by buyers -
I believed that we, as a nation, where able to stand tall and be proud of our abolishment of slavery 150 years ago. This book gives lie to that belief and exposes the GROSS hypocrisy in both our government and more importantly the United Nations. Well written and documented, this should be a must read by leaders and citizens.
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