The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery

Considered a seminal book in the fields of Bioethics and Human-Animal
Studies, and a classic in the field of humane thought, Marjorie
Spiegel's The Dreaded Comparison makes a significant contribution to
our efforts to understand the roots of individual and societal
violence, tying current cultural practices to the legacy of human
bondage, and introducing new and diverse audiences to the history of
slavery and institutionalized racism in the United States.

Spanning history, psychology, and current events-- and ground-breaking
for its thesis which presents the first in-depth exploration of the
similarities between the violence humans have wrought against other
humans, and our culture's treatment of non-human animals-- The Dreaded
Comparison has contributed to subsequent explorations by other
scholars, historians, legal scholars, law professors and educators in
diverse fields to view and further define the modern system of animal
exploitation in terms of the model and legacy of human slavery.

The Dreaded Comparison also contributed substantially to broadening
the philosophical foundation of the modern discourse about animals
beyond its traditionally more limited scope, instilling a far more
inclusive and historically-grounded understanding of the critical
issues Spiegel sensitively explores in this book.

Highly acclaimed and widely reviewed-- Gordon Parks declared that
"The Dreaded Comparison should be placed in schoolrooms across the
universe," and civil rights attorney William Kunstler wrote that he
"was heavily influenced by Marjorie Spiegelʼs powerful tour de
force" -- The Dreaded Comparison has been adopted as required
reading in colleges, universities, law curriculum, and high schools
throughout the nation. Now in its third edition, The Dreaded
Comparison has also been excerpted in college textbooks in the fields
of Philosophy and Human-Animal Studies, and excerpted as a cover story
in national journals.