Economics of Slavery?

[Sir Comradical]

Anyone know where I can find any good readings or books on the economics of the slave trade & slavery?

[Invader Zim]

Drescher, Econocide: British Slavery in the Era of Abolition (London, 1979).

That book, was, and remains, pretty much the go to book for the economics of the slave trade.

[Sir Comradical]

What about a book covering the three periods of slavery: greco-roman, transatlantic and modern-day human trafficking?

[Invader Zim]

What about a book covering the three periods of slavery: greco-roman, transatlantic and modern-day human trafficking?


There isn't one, at least not one worth reading. Books of that scope can only ever be basic surveys, they dont contain original ideas, research or even a level of detail that justifies their existence.

[Teacher]

Eric Williams has a classic entitled Capitalism and Slavery that has been much debated since its publication but holds up well. There is a good book called The Atlantic Slave Trade by a guy named David Northrup -- it is actually a collection of articles and excerpts from different historians dealing with various aspects of the slave trade. It is a really interesting book. For example there is an interesting collection of perspectives on why the Europeans chose Africans as the main source of labor in the New World.