The History of East-Central European Eugenics, 1900-1945 - by Marius Turda (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The History of East-Central European Eugenics, 1900-1945 redefines the European history of eugenics by exploring the ideological transmission of eugenics internationally and its application locally in East-Central Europe. It includes 100 primary sources translated from the East-Central European languages into English for the first time and key contributions from leading scholars in the field from around Europe. This volume examines the main eugenic organisations, as well as individuals and policies that shaped eugenics in Austria, Poland, the former Czechoslovakia, the former Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania. It also explores the ways in which ethnic minorities interacted with national and international eugenics discourses to advance their own aims and ambitions, whilst providing a comparative analysis of the emergence and development of eugenics in East-Central Europe more generally.

Complete with a glossary of terms, a list of all eugenic societies and journals from these countries, as well as a comprehensive bibliography, The History of East-Central European Eugenics, 1900-1945 is a pivotal reference work for students, researchers and academics interested in East-Central Europe and the history of science and national identity in the 20th century.

Review Quotes

A number of things make this volume extremely useful for scholars of eugenics ... One immediate strength lies in the richness of the sources used ... Another is the nuanced and complex approach contributors take to exploring the autarchic eugenic traditions of their individual states ... while, at the same time, detailing attempts to establish common eugenic values ... This extremely well-written and thoroughly-researched volume will provide scholars of eugenics and related subjects with a wealth of information and primary sources. It makes a major contribution to the study of eugenic thought.
Social History of Medicine

This excellent collection of essays is more than an introduction to East-Central European eugenics. It is a detailed investigation illuminating a rather dark period of European history ... [and] an essential read for scholars interested in both the general and specific aspects of European eugenics.
Journal of Historical Geography

This volume succeeds admirably ... [in] provid[ing] an invaluable new perspective on the transmission and adaptation of eugenic ideas in countries, which, until recently have not been part of the so-called mainstream.
European History Quarterly

About the Author

Marius Turda is Reader in 20th Century Central and Eastern European Biomedicine in the Department of History at Oxford Brookes University, UK. He is the author of Modernism and Eugenics (2010) and Eugenics and Nation in Early 20th Century Hungary (2014).