Description
Book SynopsisSlavery is not and has never been a peculiar institution, but one that is deeply rooted in the history and economy of most countries. Although it has flourished in some periods and declined in others, human bondage for profit has never been eradicated completely.In Slavery: A World History renowned author Milton Meltzer traces slavery from its origins in prehistoric hunting societies through the boom in slave trading that reached its peak in the United States with a pre-Civil War slave population of 4,000,000 through the forced labour under the Nazi regime and in the Soviet gulags and finally to its widespread practice in many countries today, such as the debt bondage that miners endure in Brazil or the prostitution into which women are sold in Thailand. In this detailed, compassionate account, readers will learn how slavery arose, what forms it takes, what roles slaves have performed in their societies, what everyday existence is like for those enchained, and what can be done to end
Table of ContentsVolume One: From the Rise of Western Civilizaiton to the Renaissance * Thingor Person? * Between the Tigris and the Euphrates * In the Valley of the Nile * The Children of Israel * Odysseus and His Slaves * The Greek World Expands * When War Becomes Good Business * From Baking Bread to Building the Parthenon * Work, Punishment, and Food * Nature Makes No Slaves * The Rise of Rome * Bargains on the Battlefield * PiracyA Steady Trade * Imperial Slave Market * In Markets, Workshops, and Mines * On Farm and Ranch * Death in the Arena * How Roman Slaves Lived * When Freedom Came * Slave Revolts in Sicily * Spartacus Sets Italy Ablaze * Slaves and Serfs * The Medieval Slave * Domestic Enemies From the Renaissance to Today * People from Heaven * Africa before the Europeans * The Slave Trade * The Middle Passage * A Need for Labor * Indian Slavery in the Americas * Money-Making Machines * A Sugar Island * Barrels of Powder * The Explosion * Built on Africa * Rum and Slaves * Revolution and Cotton * On the Plantation * In the City * The Auction Block * The Law and the Lash * Throw Out the Life Line * Sabotage, Flight, Revolt * Come Freedom * Turn East * Forced Labor * Slavery Today * How to End It?
