THE AUTHOR SHOWS THAT DOMESTIC PUNISHMENTS, INFLICTED ON SLAVES BY THEIR MASTERS, LATER BECAME LEGAL PUNISHMENTS FOR THE CRIMES COMMITTED BY LOW-CALSS FREEMEN EVENTUALLY TO BECOME LEGAL PUNISHMENTS FOR OFFENDERS REGARDLESS OF SOCIAL STATUS. A DOMINANT FORCE IN THIS DEVELOPMENT IS THE CASTE AND CLASS STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY THAT IS REFLECTED IN THE DETERMINATION OF WHAT CONDUCT SHOULD BE DEFINED AS CRIMINAL; WHO SHOULD BE PUNISHED; AND WHAT THE PUNISHMENT SHOULD BE. THE BOOK GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF SLAVERY AND PUNISHMENT IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME AND IN THE MEDIEVAL GERMANIC STATES; GALLEY SLAVES IN MARITIME COUNTRIES; PENAL SLAVERY ON PUBLIC WROKS (FORTIFICATIONS); THE RISE OF HOUSES OF CORRECTION; THE NAVAL ARSENAL PRISONS IN FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ITALY; THE BRITISH 'HULKS' (AND THE PENAL SURVITUDE THAT REPLACED THEM); PENAL SLAVERY IN RUSIA; AND SLAVERY AND PUNISHMENT IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH, WITH ITS CONVICT LESSEE SYSTEM, CHAIN GANGS, PENAL FARMS AND PLANATATIONS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)