Forced to work in back-breaking, under- or unpaid jobs from agricultural work to prostitution, slaves today -- men and women, old and young -- are trapped in the same spiral of brutality and control they have endured for centuries, with one crucial difference: a collapse in the price of human beings. Globalization, governmental corruption, and the population explosion have thrust billions of people into the pool of potential slaves. This huge surplus of impoverished people has pushed the human price tag to only $100, the cost of a pair of "designer" jeans. This means that it's worse to be a slave today than ever before. "Slavery Today" traces the "products" created by this inhuman system from the jungle and farm through the global markets and into our lives and homes. It addresses the controversies over prostitution and the buying back of slaves while presenting solutions and ways readers can get involved in the growing global anti-slavery movement.

Kevin Bales is the world's leading expert on modern slavery. He is president of Free the Slaves, the US sister-organization of Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest human rights group.