This volume is a valuable contribution to a growing body of scholarship on the global history of slavery. It could be fruitfully read as a supplement to other recent works, such as the Cambridge World History of Slavery series, the Journal of Global Slavery, and the research of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/research/publications/bcdsss-publishing-series). Scholars working in specialized subfields of medieval or early modern studies might wish to read only one or two of the most relevant essays, but the entire volume will interest scholars of slavery and/ or incarceration in historical contexts. The volume’s twin treatment of slavery and incarceration also seems a fruitful trajectory for future research.

Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies

At last the medieval dungeon of our fantasies has been given back its existential realities and usefully put into historical perspective, with exciting contributions by over twenty highly accomplished scholars in a richly illustrated and finely edited collection.

Garry Trompf, University of Sydney

In this volume are presented eighteen different essays that explore slavery and imprisonment as well as the circumstances that encouraged, condoned or condemned it. These studies, framed by a substantial introduction, consider perspectives from Muslim, Jewish and Christian societies of the late antique through early modern eras. They range from treatments literary to historical, whether of individuals or groups, examining ways in which freedoms were taken away through punishment or misfortune while considering the impacts of gender and class on these losses of liberty. This is a book that, beyond its historical boundaries, resonates with contemporary concerns regarding human freedoms and dignities. It will be of interest to scholars in many disciplines, including literary, economic, religious, social and military historians.

Charlotte Stanford, Brigham Young University