SPEAK A WORD FOR FREEDOM

The authors of the outstanding global history Five Thousand Years of Slavery (2011) offer an equally impressive collection of 14 profiles of women who, from the 18th century to the present, have heroically championed emancipation and an end to human bondage.

The chronicle begins with the remarkable story of Elizabeth Freeman, a slave in Massachusetts who successfully sued for her freedom in 1781 on the grounds that the state constitution adopted a year earlier made slavery illegal. 19th-century profiles include abolitionists Ellen Craft, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frances Anne Kemble, and Elizabeth Heyrick, who worked at the forefront of the British anti-slavery movement. Representing the 20th century are Alice Seeley Harris, an English photographer who brought worldwide attention to slavery in the Congo Free State, and Kathleen Simon, who exposed the widespread practice of child slavery in China. Contemporary portraits include Hadijatou Mani, who successfully sued her own government of Niger in 2008 for failing to protect her from slavery, and Nina Smith, executive director of GoodWeave International, which seeks to end child slavery in the handmade rug and carpet industry.

An inspiring collection of those who have fought and continue to fight against the evil of slavery and an effectively solemn reminder that slavery remains a global plague.