A World Transformed

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This comprehensive study examines how slavery and enslaved people have shaped the modern world. It argues that a full understanding of slavery requires moving beyond traditional national histories, collecting recent scholarship into a cohesive narrative. The author presents a global story that encompasses the capitalist economy, labor, environment, and social culture, including ideas of family, beauty, and taste. The book emphasizes the profound role of slavery in the formation of the modern world, highlighting the enforced transportation and labor of millions of Africans as a significant social and economic force. This catalyzed the rapid development of extensive trading systems with far-reaching global consequences. The labor and products of enslaved individuals transformed consumption patterns across continents, influencing societies in India, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Slavery's impact shaped many dominant features of Western culture, including luxury items that may seem disconnected from its brutal reality. The narrative traces the enduring global effects of slavery over centuries, extending beyond legal or historical milestones, and asserts that the world created by slave labor continues to resonate today.