This book is a cross-cultural examination of slavery. It drawsmaterial from the many regions, and widely separated historicalperiods, in which slavery has existed - ancient Greece and Rome,medieval Europe, the Muslim societies of the Middle East andAfrica, sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas. With such a widegeographic and chronological scope, Slavery will provokehistorians and sociologists to make new connections and see oldproblems in a fresh light. Turley analyses three key themes in the history of slavery: thesocial and economic importance of slavery within societies, theexperience of slavery by both the slaves and those who controlthem, and the means by which slavery was reproduced and maintainedin different societies. Employing this thematic approach, Turleyacknowledges the historical diversity of slavery and develops twomodels of slave societies - those in which slavery was primarily adomestic institution (societies with slaves) and in those in whichit was the mode of production on which the dominant group dependedfor its position (slave societies). The book also explains how slavery was maintained by discussingthe role of race, ethnicity and religious differences in thefunctioning of slave systems. Turley completes this wide-ranginganalysis of slavery by examining emancipation, showing that boththe early modern expansion of slavery and its ending wereparadoxically connected to different phases of Europeanimperialism.