Breaking the Shackles

‘No pen can give an adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery,’ wrote former slave, author and abolitionist Harriet Ann Jacobs in her 1861 memoir Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Sadly, more than 150 years later, the Global Slavery Index estimates tens of millions of people are subjected to human trafficking and slavery every year. And while, as Jacobs said, no words can apt describe the effects of this corruption, books and stories can help raise awareness and alarm in the face of injustice. Here are some books that do just that.

Twelve Years A Slave

Solomon Northup

Part of the Penguin Orange Collection, a limited-run series of twelve influential and beloved American classics in a bold series design offering a modern take on the iconic Penguin paperback
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was a key figure in helping to secure the abolition of slavery in America – discover his Narrative on the 150th anniversary of that event.
The Slave Across the Street

Theresa Flores

The chilling yet ultimately inspirational true story of how a 15-year-old teenager escaped the world of human trafficking
When Elephants Fight

Majok Tulba

A haunting coming-of-age novel from one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Novelists of the Year (2013), author of the acclaimed Beneath the Darkening Sky
The Dead Eye And The Deep Blue Sea

Prum Vannak
The Water Dancer

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Stunning and profound, the highly anticipated debut novel from the award-winning, bestselling author of We Were Eight Years in Power - a story of bondage, freedom, and love.
Master Of My Fate

Sienna Brown
Martha And The Slave Catchers

Harriet Hyman Alonso
Beloved

Toni Morrison

ONE OF FIVE NEW VINTAGE FUTURE CLASSICS READING GUIDE EDITIONS
Blood And Earth

Kevin Bales

Driven by dramatic first-person reporting, this is a powerful and beautifully written jeremiad that connects the dots between two of the great crises of our time—environmental destruction and human trafficking—and offers a new approach to resolving our biggest global problems.
Child Soldiers

Leora Kahn