Two hundred years after Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, over 27 million people worldwide languish in slavery, forced to work, under threat of violence, for no pay. In Africa, hundreds of thousands are considered chattel, while on the Indian subcontinent millions languish in generational debt bondage. Across the globe, women and children, sold for sex and labour, are already the second most lucrative commodity for organised crime. Through eviscerating narrative, A Crime So Monstrous paints a stark picture of modern slavery. Skinner infiltrates trafficking networks and slave sales on four continents, exposing a flesh trade never before portrayed with such vivid detail. From mega-harems in Khartoum to illicit brothels in Bucharest, from slave quarries in India to urban child markets in Haiti, he lays bare a parallel universe where lives are bought, sold, used and discarded. The personal stories related here are heartbreaking but in the midst of tragedy Skinner also discovered a quiet dignity that leads some to resist and aspire to freedom. He bears witness for them and for the millions that are held in the shadows - all victims of what is the greatest human-rights challenge facing our generation.
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A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Today there are more slaves than at any time in history, according to journalist Skinner's report on current and former slaves and slave dealers. Skinner's travelogue-cum-indictment focuses most sharply on Haiti, Sudan, Romania and India, and is interspersed with a detailed account of the work of John Miller, director of the State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, or America's antislavery czar. Skinner reiterates that sexual trafficking is only one component of slavery, but devotes the bulk of this book (when it is not following Miller's State Department career) to this issue. The text teeters toward the travelogue, taking the reader to Dubai's most notorious brothel and Skinner's adventures in pos[ing] as a client to talk to women... [or] as an arms dealer to talk to traffickers. Nevertheless, Skinner's story merits reading, and not just because the cause is noble and the detail often fascinating, such as the moral complications of Christian Solidarity International's redemption or purchase of 85,000 slaves' freedom. Skinner's account of the internal workings of the State Department and the deep links to faith-based antislavery groups and their special interests is seriously newsworthy and, at times, moving. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"A heartbreakingly important work" The Scotsman
--This text refers to the
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An absolutely astounding work of journalism, Ben Skinner's "A Crime So Monstrous" is a veritable call to arms for anyone concerned about the world's most disenfranchised people. By introducing us to his subjects and enabling us to understand both where they have come from and where they are going, Skinner's profiles of modern day slaves are candid, compassionate and completely unique. The writer, who has clearly devoted his heart and soul to his subject, often immersing himself in dangerous situations, exhibits enormous bravery as he details his travels in some of the world's most treacherous terrains. Whether he is infiltrating child slave markets in Haiti or interviewing a former sex slave in Romania, Skinner makes it clear that modern day slavery is a formidable threat to the human species, one that thrives on poverty, misguided policies and multi-sector corruption. But ACSM also proposes and encourages solutions as Skinner illuminates the amazing work of NGOs, ambassadors and activists committed to facilitating sustainable solutions. Clearly one of the best books ever written by a young writer, this is mandatory reading for the human community and one worthy of a permanent home in academic institutions, UN sessions, book clubs, libraries, and human rights circles.
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An accessible work which combines personal narrative and solid journalism
March 11, 2008
Format:Hardcover
I had the privilege of reading this book before publication, I was struck by the lengths to which Mr. Skinner traveled to write and research this great book. I confess to being largely ignorant of the volume and nature of human trafficking which still exists, but this book opened my eyes to the mechanics and politics of the oft-ignored plight of millions around the world.
I found it very easy to read and that Mr. Skinner's approach provides a comprehensive introduction to one of the world's most troubling problems. You will definitely not be sorry for choosing this book.
I found it very easy to read and that Mr. Skinner's approach provides a comprehensive introduction to one of the world's most troubling problems. You will definitely not be sorry for choosing this book.
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This edgy, unflinching study of slavery plunges us into the bowels of countries I wouldn't want to fly over, let alone visit. As he calmly haggles down the price of human beings with grinning men and women, the author plays out roles that professional actors might flinch at. Of course for Skinner, there must have been no rehearsals, no second takes. It must have been raw. And yet somehow he still manages to weave in elegant and even beautiful prose - the evocative phrase describing India's enslaved `human jackhammers' is now permanently lodged in my lexicon - and even a few comic moments to relieve our tension. This book has been rightly compared with two brilliant, prize-winning books on genocide, and yet in some ways the author lures us farther and further into strange new territory. He explores the human nature and contours of an evil that has more shades of grey and more intimacy than genocide, an evil that appears to be expanding into new shadows and metastasizing like the hydra he describes at one point, rather than contracting under sunlight of exposure. It also, I think, requires a different kind of discipline: one has to interview the living victims and perpetrators of slavery as evil unfolds in the present, rather than probe unreliable memories to reconstruct horrific events of the past. Skinner's dialogues with hideous people leave us at the end of his book, sitting on the edge of our comfortable sofas, having silent conversations with our conscience, haunted in the best possible way.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
An anachronism lives on
Most of us thought that slavery was a thing of the past but it appears this is not so. Many still live in bondage and the numbers according the the United Nations may be as many as... Read more
Published 2 months ago by The g Factor
5.0 out of 5 stars
Modern Day Slavery
Mr. Skinner pointed how persons in power choose people to continue what is illegal and not who can bring about a complete change.
Published 4 months ago by Thinking
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificently written investigation on a stunningly horrific topic
This is probably one of the most interesting and well-written books that I have ever read. Skinner is a brilliant author as well as a butt-kicking journalist. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Robby Barthelmess
3.0 out of 5 stars
Incredibly well-researched, but at times slow
First of all, I certainly learned a great deal from this book. Skinner does an excellent job of providing of a sample of the different types of modern-day slavery that are present... Read more
Published 15 months ago by margieebee
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's hard to believe that this exists today
This book open eyes to crimes unimaginable... Slavery occurs everywhere in the world. This book gives you an inside look at the slave trade. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Indiana Cat
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eye-opening and inspiring
This was the first book I read on human trafficking and it was a jolt. If you watch Law and Order: SVU, you have at least a passing awareness that human trafficking is an issue,... Read more
Published on December 29, 2010 by Anna McCall
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hard-wired defense mechanisms instantaneously make it go away
Having read some other books on or related to the subject, I think this Author's first effort is above average. The book is of course, too short. Read more
Published on July 28, 2010 by The Great Gazoo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book in excellent condition
The book arrived on the estimated time and in good condition as it was described on the web.
Published on February 25, 2010 by Paulina Arias
5.0 out of 5 stars
An eye-opening journey into mankind's most horrid institution
This book takes a trip around the world, telling the amazing and heart-wrenching stories of people who are bound by debt or sold into servitude. Read more
Published on January 14, 2010 by D. Brodsky
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent overview of modern slavery told from the front lines
This book was a great change of pace compared to so many other writings on the subject of modern slavery. Read more
Published on December 20, 2009 by Greg A. Tirevold
