A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery

by E. Benjamin Skinner, Richard Holbrooke (Foreword)

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 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Crime, Social Justice, True Crime, Social Issues

328 pages, Hardcover

First published March 6, 2008

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Offensive.

I'm unhappy I feel a need to write a scathing review about a book dealing with an issue I care passionately about. But Skinner's book was tremendously offensive, and worse: misleading.

Skinner deliberately shies away from discussing the more insidious forms of slavery, because they do not prove his thesis: neo-conservative evangelicals are working hard behind the scene to eradicate slavery (and we need more neo-conservative policies to end it!) It's shocking that a man could go to Haiti and then come back and sing the praises of neo-conservatives, deliberately over-looking the horrifying role of foreign intervention in Haiti's affairs for the past two hundred years. Paul Farmer he is not.

It's more shocking that the man wrote a book about slavery which spends such a vast amount of time singing the praises of affluent, comfortable politicians and policy advisors. Kevin Bales' infinitely better book, Disposable People, spent time dealing with actual slaves. He was not straining to be a Serious Journalist Bravely Risking His Life, but dealt with slaves, and what slavery looks like beyond our traditional images of cotton fields and such.

It's disturbing how Skinner showers praise on a man, actually calling him 'an angel', while on the very same page that man brags about how he destroyed bipartisan coalitions to deal with slavery, because Hillary Clinton's existence offends him (though don't get me started on the word 'bipartisan', whose technical definition these days seem to be "liberals who are not actually liberal but centrists kowtow in technocratic fear to massively wealthy assholes who play games with political opinion and incited hatred"). The same man, sympathetically described by Skinner, has the audacity to be offended because Paul Wellstone theorized that modern slavery is closely bound with current global economic practices. What an idea! To wonder if the fact that there are more slaves on the planet than at any time in human history has something to do with a system which values profits above all else! It's not like Western Civilization was ever into slavery before! And white conservative men have always been so concerned about human rights, don'tchaknow? They were just a little bit more busy with making obscene amounts of money by abusing those same rights!

And seriously, Fuck That. Open and widespread legal ownership of human beings ended in the mid-1800s because a bunch of pacifist, leftist people were willing to be humiliated and attacked by all the comfortable middle classes who didn't want to know where their clothing came from. Pretty sure it took a bunch of those determined outsiders decades and decades to provoke politicians to do anything about it (by sure, I mean go check out Bury the Chains). And I'm pretty sure modern slavery exists because there's a whole bunch of layers between us and the child slaves who make oriental rugs and bricks and t-shirts, and not quite because lower-middle-class black people in Haiti are so 'backward' (why, we should maybe invade again and show them how to be civilized! we are so good at that!! it's not like white people ever had slaves, or use slave labor to make their products, or have invaded countries for their own economic benefit and then rationalized it!! ha!!).

Slavery in the world today is a massive, horrifying problem. Dealing with it is not helped by turning a small cadre of people isolated from the problem, who simultaneously promote policies which create the problem, into 'angels'. Or simplifying discussions of slavery so the reader does not have to think, and promoting thoughtless free trade as the answer. So that's how I feel. This is a misleading book which distorts an issue which affects all of us, and it is the more affluent who need to be made aware of what their lifestyle rests on top of, rather than pretending they're the ones who're going to end the oppression. I'm sorry to hate on a book which may lead more people to an awareness of modern slavery, but I'm more sorry that this is the book they're reading.

[lifelike · Rating 1 out of 5]

please read Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy for a brilliant analysis of modern slavery.

not only is kevin bales a better writer, but the content is better.

also, skinner uses the book as a platform to tout his politics. i happen to disagree that slavery will instantly disappear when the government lifts its controls of big business.

[Tamora Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slavery is forced work, under threat of or actual violence, for no pay.

I already knew that slavery exists in our time. I knew it exists as multi-generational debt bondage in India, when one member of a family got a loan, and his grandchildren labor to pay off the much larger amount (there's interest) with no sign of ever getting free. I knew of sexual trafficking in women from eastern Europe and women and children in Thailand, the Philippines, and Mexico. I did not know that the people of southern Sudan, who are murdered in genocidal rampages, are also being swept up by the militias and kept for home work or sold. I did not know that it is possible to buy a child in Haiti for $60, or as the author puts it, "the cab ride to JFK" (Kennedy airport outside New York City.

This book is shattering. It gives background and it gives the actual amounts that buy and sell people. (The original debt of one Indian man's grandfather was somewhere around 57 cents. With interest, it is now around $500.) It gives the ebb and flow of the civil wars in Sudan, the efforts of slave redeemers, and the fate of those who they have bought out of slavery. And the light it casts on the United States government and on the U.N. is not a favorable one. Skinner is not vicious, but his mild prose is damning as he relays reports about U.N. personnel, sent into an area to cut trafficking, who build a brothel for themselves, or about U.N. agencies who change their reports on the promise, not the reality, of a government to do better.

If you're easily upset, if you don't like to read about violence, this isn't the book for you. But if you want to be informed, if you want to let Obama know you're watching to see that our government does support its promise to fight slavery, if you want to see what you can do to support those who are fighting slavery, this is a good book. It's as readable as a novel, if a lot harder to bear.

If you'd rather just join the fight and spare yourself the book, Skinner speaks very highly of these folks:
Free the Slaves

[Петър Стойков · Rating 2 out of 5]

Макар да е интересно да се научи за различните видове принудителен труд (граничещ с робство) днес по света, книгата не предлага почти нищо друго по темата.

Ако очаквате нещо като разследваща журналистика, ще се излъжете жестоко - а ще очаквате, щото точно това подсказва описанието и предговора. Авторът обаче очевидно е прекарал доста малко време в самите държави и не си е давал особено зор да разследва каквото и да е, защото 98% от цялата информация като че идва от официалните сводки на съответните организации за борба с трафика на хора и принудителния труд, които могат да се намерят в интернет. Останалите 2 % е що годе интересното.

Да не говорим, че авторът изкарва робството днес едва ли не най-големият проблем на човечеството, с който всички трябва да се борим, сякаш си нямаме друга работа освен да ни интересуват разни бананови държави, сякаш единственият начин да се оправи този проблем е с добродетелни "кръстоносни походи" от християнска благотворителност, и сякаш не е очевидно, че тия практики са резултат от провалената икономика и управление на тия държави, които ги позволяват.

Много са ми смешни всякакви леви и десни-религиозни "активисти", които се фиксират върху някакъв проблем в някакви умрели държавици и тръгват да го "решават", да "ни информират" за бедственото положение, да ни карат да заемем "правилната морална позиция", да "заклеймим злото" и да даваме пари за гладуващи деца, спин и т.н. без да им светне, че ако не оправят първо самите държави, всякакви усилия за борба с произхождащите от липсата на държавност и икономика проблеми са само наливане на вода в каца без дъно.

Ама целия тоя безсмислен труд кара съответните "активисти" да се чувстват важни и благородни, което всъщност май е единствената им истинска цел.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Appeals to emotion, which is fine for a book about slavery, but offers little hard data or analysis. Especially annoying is the author's endless description of his own experiences. I did not finish the book. I just don't trust a guy who uses slavery as an excuse to write pages and pages about how brave he was bribing border guards and talking to pimps while posing as a trafficker.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard Skinner speak about an article he wrote on my local NPR's station wonderful, brillant program "Radio Times". Best show in the world. Really.

Skinner's book is an overview of slavery in the modern world, and keep in mind that this isn't chain and sell them type of slavery. Skinner gives his defination earlier in the novel and quite simply illustrates it over the course of his novel. The stories are horrifying and the book is not a feel good.

Because Skinner was writing and researching this book during the Bush Jr. presidency, he does focus on what Amercian politicans, in particular Bush could have done and did not do. He doesn't bash Bush, but he doesn't worship him either. In fact, while Skinner acknowledges what some neo-cons have done, he also condems them for what they haven't. The only politican that Skinner seemed to like was Miller, a Bush apppointee, though a former head of the Discovery Institute (no not Disovery Channel. The DI is the pro-creation theory think tank. Go watch Flock of Dodos and you see why I have some problems with Miller). In terms of politics, it is a rather balanced book. He doesn't outright insult politicans, but his use of adjectives while subtle lets you know how he feels.

Still, because of the personal stories, and the fact that many of them are linked to sex, which seems to disprove his own thesis, I found the book slightly less edifiying than Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective.

[Nichole Lindgren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish this book. I thought this book would bring a voice to those that were being forced into modern day slavery but it was really just the voice of politicians and their life story. Do I really care about how some republican stalked his soon to be wife in order to find out her name and eventually marry her? No. What does that have to do with the tragedy of slavery. Too much politics, although I know that is a part of stopping it, and not enough exposure of the reality that is modern day slavery. I feel he stole their voice for his personal gain. Upsetting.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch sollte eigentlich jeder mal gelesen haben um sich klar zu machen, dass Sklaverei und Menschenhandel auch 2021 noch stattfindet. In fünf Kapitel berichtet der Autor/Journalist von den tragischen Schicksalen der Menschen aus Haiti, Rumänien, Moldavien, Indien und den USA. Das Ende jedes Kapitels schließt der Autor mit Daten und Fakten zum Menschenhandel in den betroffenen Ländern ab. Auch wenn der Inhalt natürlich sehr bedrückend ist, sind die Themen sehr gut recherchiert. Die schlechten Bewertungen hier auf Goodreads kann ich daher nicht nachvollziehen.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it is impossible to top Kevin Bales's book on this topic (Disposable people), and it is apparent that Skinner didn't even try that, and apologised several times throughout for it. This book attempts to break into different territory by making the Americans (policy maker and reader) the real argument of the book, and for someone who doesn't live in America, this is very annoying and tiresome. I found myself rolling my eyes when his hagiography of John Miller started in again, as his political career isn't that interesting to me and his struggle is still within the confines of the beltway.
Some of the personal stories were interesting, the chapter on Haiti was the most promising, and it whet my appetite for more. The chapters on sex slavery and the Sudan were full of interesting anecdotes, but far too padded with the author's own desire to talk about himself.
The problem is, there should be more research on the issue, and thus we end up believing a book is far better than it is simply because it has litte to compare it to.
Good information, however on some of the mechanisms of the sexual slave trade in Europe, which is an argument that hits close to home as I have a teenage daughter who is exposed to some of these tricks "the loverboy" and the job advertisements and it is good to remind myself that no one should let down their guard.

[Catherine Austen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating is more of a 5 star plus a 2 star. I loved the writing - and I know how shallow that is, and I always feel rightfully like an idiot when I close a book on some important lives-at-stake issue and think, "Jeez, that was well-written," leaving the author who wants to change the world with that little checkmark - but jeez, this was really well-written. So five stars on the writing and the research and a lot of what he says - it's a really good book on the one hand.

But 2 stars on the free market hurrah. Any book that can detail such sad stories and blatantly say, e.g., that slavery is the only way making sand by hand could be economical, then end with the idea that freeing slaves is "just good business" because free people have incentive to work harder deserves a loss of stars. I don't think those sex slaves holed up in little cells submitting to 15+ clients a day are going to be working any harder if freed. Would those 10-year-old domestic slaves already working 16 hours a day put in another hour for the big bonus at the end of the week? I think not. Capitalism is all about exploitation and it goes very well with slavery, and that leaves conscientious capitalists with lame endings to their otherwise good books.

[Terragyrl3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true revelation for me: Banning slavery is not the same as abolishing it. It’s thriving right under our noses! This book gives a reader plenty to tsk about (“because I don’t use prostitutes...”) but it also examines how slavery basically undergirds our consumer lifestyle. I loved this fascinating book, it changed my worldview, and it made me thankful to be a privileged American...but it is an ugly mirror that you can’t un-look at once you’ve looked.

[Tasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Hörbuch ist sehr extrem gekürzt, das war sicherlich nicht einmal die Hälfte des physikalischen Buches. Und ich wollte das Buch jetzt eigentlich nicht noch einmal extra lesen.
Aber was solls - in jedem Fall extrem lehrreich und wichtig. Wieso das nicht mehr beworben wurde, weiß ich auch nicht. Es ist so RELEVANT.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are 27 million slaves living in the world today --- more than at any other time in history. In the U.S., 13,000-17,000 slaves are trafficked annually into our country. If you read only one serious book this year, make it this one.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

As free citizens in a political democracy, we have a responsibility to be interested and involved in the affairs of the human community, be it at the local or the global level.
Paul Wellstone

Slavery continues today. Skinner concisely defines a slave as a person, forced to work, through threat of force, for no pay beyond subsistence. The scope of modern-day slavery is vast: there are more slaves today than at any other time in human history.

Because of this scope, Skinner spends most of the book focused on a small number of nations: Haiti, Sudan, Romania, Moldova, India, and the United States. At the same time, he details the efforts of the U.S. government to end slavery in those countries, and at home (Skinner estimates there are as many as 50,000 slaves currently in the U.S., where slavery was allegedly abolished 140 years ago).

This is a heartbreaking work. And Skinner reports this heartbreak with unflinching detail. Each of these personal stories and the dire locations accompanying them come to life through Skinner's words. It is, often times, tough to read because of the severe human tragedy these fellow humans have been forced to endure. Yet push on, gentle reader, through the heartache so you can retell the stories reported on these pages.

Among the reviews on this page, there is some criticism of Skinner's reporting on his own plight – for instance – the author contracted malaria in Haiti, and suffered countless bouts of food poisoning. I found it served to authenticate these reports, rather than shine a spotlight on how brave he thought himself. Yet, these personal bits are understated, and at no point did I find them intrusive to the book's true subjects. Rather they serve to highlight the unity of the human contition. Skinner admits the people he met still haunt him. And the author put himself into some truly dangerous situations to bring his reports to light – for if the slave traders have no issue with physically harming or murdering a girl under their power, certainly these people would not think twice to eliminate an undercover journalist with whom they had just negotiated the sale of a slave.

The issue of slavery was one of the few bright spots for the George W. Bush's administration, however, in the past two years, Skinner summed up the administration's efforts with three words: sparkle and fade. Hopefully, the next administration will take up the standard to end slavery.

Skinner also reminds the reader of the late Senator Paul Wellstone's contribution to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. The senator's death in 2002 made all the more tragic as the abolitionist movement lost a champion and loud voice within the U.S. Senate.

If you read the book, please also – as Senator Wellstone once said -- take action by getting involved in the affairs of the human community.
In fact, if you purchased the book, you've helped already: 25% of U.S. royalties go to Free The Slaves, a group that uses holistic, locally-based strategies through global partners to fight slavery, rehabilitate slaves and eradicate bondage. If Skinner's words touched you, I'd suggest you visit the
Free the Slaves website.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduced me to the topics of human trafficking and modern day slavery when I read it years ago, and I remember it as a very good introduction. To this day, I remember how many slaves exist, the situation in specific countries, the economic magnitude of slavery, which countries are transit and which are destination countries, and so on. I'm honestly surprised at how much of this book stayed with me over the years.

Another great thing about this book was the writing. Not in the sense that the prose was particularly beautiful and elegant (it was too cheesy sometimes), but it felt real and engaging. From what I remember, Skinner did the individual tales he describes justice. The evil, the suffering, but also the hope in them really shone through. What's more, the relationship between these tales and the geopolitical and criminological analyses was symbiotic: They both made each other feel more relevant and assisted in understanding the respective other part. Like Kolyma: the Arctic Death Camps, A Crime So Monstrous looks at the bigger picture without losing sight of the individual in it. That is something I respect very much.

Sadly, the same cannot be said about the subplot in which Skinner talks to a US ambassador about slavery, and what the US government can do against it. (I think it was an ambassador, at least.) These parts of the novel were not just boring, but also inexplicably naive. Aside from the fact that it's extremely suspicious how the Bush administration almost declared slavers their enemy before terrorism stole the spotlight: We've seen how the War on Drugs and the War on Terrorism turned out, haven't we? Or the War on Poverty, or the current War on Racism, Sexism and Homophobia... basically, whenever you give the government a good cause, it will run it into the ground until there's only slogans and bombed cities left. Either Skinner wasn't aware of this fact, or he believed that this time, it would be different. Not sure which is worse. In dubio pro reo, I assume he wasn't intentionally malevolent. Still, I'm subtracting one star for it. The book would've been much better with these parts left out, or reduced to a few pages.

[Michael Griswold · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery is a series of stories spaning Hati, Eastern Europe, India, among other places and eventually ending in Miami with the arrest of someone envolved in the seedy slave trade. This book has two purposes in my eyes : First, it sheds a harsh blinding light on the issue of modern sex slavery and domestic and indentured slavery throughout the world. Secondly through actions and frusterations by John Miller and others connected with the Bush administration, Skinner shows how America is failing to properly confront the problem because of political and economic concearns.

The second part is the human stories of coercion and false promises, broken trust, and pure evil. The rational mind cannot phathom what person would lay down a web of lies and then heartlessly enslave a person locking them away from family and friends while forcing them to perform the most intimate of human acts for money which they don't even see a dime of that money. This is the one small downside of the book, that the human stories are chopped up and divided among travel details or meetings with various officials like John Miller or Eisner for example. This can be a minor and passable thing that is easily dealt with just a little odd, this should be required reading for anyone interested in human trafficing.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every once in a while we're fortunate enough to read a book that truly resonates with whatever we're going through in life. I'm not sure if it's the timing of when I read this book (I'm applying for NGOs and non-profits), but I found the book absolutely amazing. By far, my favorite non-fiction book, and a top 5 book overall for me.

I usually find non-fiction books too dry to digest, but Benjamin Skinner weaves together beautiful story-telling and human trafficking history and facts. Benjamin Skinner is fundamentally a GREAT writer. We follow the author as he travels through several countries consumed by poverty, as he attempts to negotiate deals with traffickers and to interview victims of human trafficking, sometimes posing as a pimp, trafficker, and arms dealer when interviewing traffickers.

Several themes emerged that I can't stop thinking about. Where do you draw the line between journalists and humanitarian? Am I doing enough and could I have done more? Are you willing to sacrifice your own personal happiness for your cause?

If you're not into politics, the second chapter might bog you down, but it's worth getting through it.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author goes undercover to reveal how shockingly easy it is to purchase a fellow human being in many parts of the world. In doing so he reveals some surprising and not-so-surprising facts.

Surprising: There are, literally, millions of slaves in the world today.

Surprising: George Bush has done more than any other American president to combat modern slavery.

Not-So-Surprising: The Bush administration's efforts to fight slavery are completely watered down and the UN is hesitant to even use the term "slave" to describe the plight of these unfortunate folks.

Not-So-Surprising: Bush's efforts in this area are designed to please the Christian right and protect our frenemies like Saudi Arabia and India.

It's all pretty depressing - but well-written. Especially grim is the Indian family who live as slaves for several generations to pay off a $.60 loan their grandfather took out in the 1950's.

If I haven't said it yet today let me say it now...I'm so happy to be an American.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rounding this up to 4 stars from 3.5. While it's important to his ultimate point, I felt like the author spent too much time on the character study of American politicians. At the end of the book, his points on the failure of American politics to adequately address this issue were quite poignant, but I felt they would've carried as much weight without all of the personal back story of the characters involved. Skinner tells the slaves' stories carefully and skillfully, and I appreciated the interjections of his dark sense of humor now and again (e.g. his describing Ceaușescu's ghost as "perforated"). Overall, this is a good read that addresses human trafficking in a comprehensive manner (as opposed to focusing solely on the sex trade aspect of the issue).

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not finish this book because the author's babble of the neoconservative evangelical agenda was what was on the table.I do feel that the subject matter of this book is a frightful stain on the world but helping people through the lord is serving none but your own arrogant beliefs.You are entitled to your beliefs but you become guilty of colonialism if you try to foster those beliefs on people in need.

[Suzy]

I had to stop -- way too upsetting.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find the books on trafficking very interesting and thought provoking. I also find some are easier to read than others, with some of the books getting bogged down by statistics and history. Though this book had this element to it it wasn't daunting and overbearing and went on to talk about the author's experiences as he sought to make connection with the various levels of people involved in trafficking.
The author goes underground to penetrate the world of trafficking in all it's ways and near the end of the book we discover that even though he works to be neutral, he helped one trafficking victim who got to go home, with a scholarship for school. He interviewed people who have been trafficked, the traffickers and others who are trafficked to slavery through coerced forced labor with no restitution or very, very little of it, and others who were born into debt collection slavery.
There are those in Congress who want trafficking to be limited to sex trafficking only but trafficking is so much more and involves domestic labor and slavery in factories, fields, and as in India, the rock quarries. There is so much to do within this field to make a difference for the people who are suffering. In the last couple pages of the book there is some creativity in how some people are trying to give people a leg up and to get involved in various businesses that are helping to create a way out of poverty and therefore be less susceptible to traffickers and their lies. I really liked this and even though trafficking is a huge industry, though vile, I hope that there continues to be agencies and creative thinking to cut this process down. I also hope the Government has the courage to broadly define anti trafficking laws to include all of the sub groups of people that are trafficked and being held in slavery. Unfortunately, I don't think the Government has the desire to include all trafficking victims and will continue to argue amongst themselves on who deserves to be helped and who doesn't and which countries they are willing to hold accountable because they don't want to lose their special interest countries even if they are very involved in the trafficking industry. And therein lies a huge part of the problem.

[Luciano Elementi · Rating 5 out of 5]

How awful it is to read the too numerous account that Benjamin provides along with the staggering statistics and not-far-away places of nowadays slavery.
For me this has been a revelation, we go by our lives without paying attention to the many facets we encounter. For sure we did without the call to act. Well, this book is more than just an account. It is more than just a thought-provoking exposition. It is a call to action in the many ways we really can in engaging discourses with our neighbors and politicians to the many agencies, and some mentioned in this book, that we can support on our will.
The simple knowledge, I feel, leaves us already more powerful than before the reading of this tremendous account of a monstrous crime indeed

[Jordyn Hilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend people read this book but with a healthy amount of criticism. A lot of other reviews discredit the author, saying he hails the efforts of the Christian right in the anti-slavery movement stemming from the US, but I dont think thats true. I think he does a decent job setting the scene and addressing actors within the relatively narrow time frame the boom is written in. Overall very moving as the narrative style does its job. I think if anything, this book posed a lot of questions for me, and is a good starter to more in depth and well rounded literature on the topic. People should read this book quizzically and not stop here.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book was tough to slog through but well worth it. Massively grateful for individuals who are willing to look at hard issues and become part of a movement to induce change. Skinner’s knowledge of government, policy, and politics is well researched. And his ability to portray all the thousands of slaves worldwide as people is humanizing. I am at a loss as to how trafficking continues. I can’t fathom how abuse, especially of children, is tolerated in our world all for money and sex. It’s maddening.

[Debbie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the hardest book I've ever read. So sad I could only read in it stages as its unbelievable. Children sold for less than a AK47. The evil that lurks in our world is unimaginable. The explotation is horrific. That slavery is still in existence is so backwards and people are so exposed to the cruelty of others. All I can hope is that justice is brought to all those that commit these henious crimes. Also one of the longest words ive ever come across was in this book. "Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoiosis"

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important, though not without its flaws, A Crime So Monstrous may make some odd claims regarding neoconservativism but the book meaningfully explores slavery in a global 21st century context. I do wish the book was a bit more exhaustive but I’m not enough of an expert on this subject to fully comprehended the book’s limitations.

[Chelsea Wipf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before staring this book, I had no idea of the extent that slavery still existed in this world, much less how prevalent it is in the USA. So incredibly sad the harrowing lives so many live still. I'm glad that my eyes were opened to the plight of millions, and will definitely be checking out the aid organizations that seek to give redeemed peoples a hope and future.

[Dan Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always hard to read about issues like this, especially with detailed experiences by those that have lived through it, but it's necessary to understand what's happening as I write this, that this horrible crime is still being committed to this day.