Essays on historical aspects, economic implications, sociological aspects and legal aspects of bonded labour and forced labour in India - examines the nature of slavery in ancient and medieval India, as well as under colonialism; includes case studies of bondage of agricultural workers and weaving skilled worker, rural workers employed in brick kilns, tribal peoples, migrant workers, and rural women forced into prostitution; comments on related legislation and obstacles to the abolition of debt bondage. Bibliography, references, statistical tables.

Noting that the modern perception of slavery is so colored by the American experience that people tend not to see other forms, eight essays describe the servile institutions in Asia and Africa during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the examples are the Ottoman Empire, Thailand, the Gulf of Guinea, and Senegal. Paper edition (unseen), $14.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Chains of Slavery (1774), an attack on despotism addressed to British voters, in which Jean-Paul Marat first expounded the notion of an “aristocratic,” or “court,” plot; it would become the principal theme of a number of his articles. Jean-Paul Marat, French politician, physician, and journalist, a leader of the radical Montagnard faction during the French Revolution. He was assassinated in his bath by Charlotte Corday, a young Girondin conservative.

Spiritual chains are terrible things. It is gross stupidity to misjudge the evil wisdom of our foe. Satan will not hesitate to employ any weakness in our lives. The enemy has repackaged his chains to make them look innocent and attractive. Until you discren, diagnose, determine and destroy these masquerading chains and convenants, bondages will remain in place. Salvation does not exempt anyone from the battles of life. It only equips to win them. Until you hate these evil chains with perfect hatred and become violent against them, they will continue to harass, torment and destroy. However, anyone who loves his/her chains would remain in bondage. This book is an essential spiritual warfare manual for all Christians in this end time.

This is the story of a handful of men, led by Thomas Clarkson, who defied the slave trade and ignited the first great human rights movement. Beginning in 1788, a group of Abolitionists moved the cause of anti-slavery from the floor of Parliament to the homes of 300,000 people boycotting Caribbean sugar, and gave a platform to freed slaves.

A very early example of the escaped slave memoir genre and a rare account of northern slavery. The slavery narratives of freedmen were a staple in the armamentarium of American abolitionists, since the narratives' authors could testify directly on the evils and hardships of their servitude, putting the lie to the claims from slavery advocates that the practice was humane and beneficial to its subjects. They also added appeals to the principles of religion, making a powerful argument against the toleration of a system of human bondage. What makes Wheeler's 1839 work a very interesting variant from the standard treatment is that he was northern-born--in New Jersey--and illegally sold and taken into New York State, then grew to adulthood held in slavery in the newly settled region of western New York. His memoir is direct evidence that slavery was not merely a southern aberration, but could and did happen very close to the homes of the northern audiences for such accounts. Wheeler's narrative of his work in the farms, canals, households, and seagoing vessels he served on are also unique in their coverage. At the same time that abolitionists used slave narratives to substantiate and illustrate their position, deniers and apologists of the time searched diligently for errors or outright fraud in such witnessing, hoping thereby to dismiss all such accounts as fabrications if only one could be found faulty (just as Holocaust deniers do now with testimony from the Holocaust). Professor Hodges shows in his introduction how dissension among abolitionists led to suspicion of Wheeler's editor/amanuensis, the white Presbyterian minister Charles Edwards Lester, and the near-total eclipse of Wheeler's account until today; this is its first publication in more than 150 years.