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Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery
Free Press
April 2009
On Sale: March 24, 2009
352 pages
ISBN: 0743290089
EAN: 9780743290081
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Non-Fiction
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 today 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 aquiet 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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