War Against The Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race

( 9 )

Overview

Genetics is in the news. What's not in the news are its origins in a racist 20th-century pseudoscience called eugenics. In 1904, the U.S. began a large-scale eugenics movement that was championed by the nation's medical, political, and religious elite. Eugenics sought to eliminate social "undesirables" and was eventually copied by the Third Reich. Whites, blacks, Native Americans — nearly everyone was subject to sterilization, castration, and in some cases, euthanasia. In the aftermath of world revulsion over ...

See more details below
Available through our Marketplace sellers and in stores.
See All Options
Pick Up In Store Near You

Pick Up In Store Near You

Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store

Other sellers (Hardcover)
  • All (8) from $27.00   
  • New (1) from $641.77   
  • Used (7) from $27.00   
Close
Sort by
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Note: Marketplace items are not eligible for any BN.com coupons and promotions
$641.77
Almond Branch Books
Seller since 2013

Feedback rating:

(0)

Condition:

New — never opened or used in original packaging.

Like New — packaging may have been opened. A "Like New" item is suitable to give as a gift.

Very Good — may have minor signs of wear on packaging but item works perfectly and has no damage.

Good — item is in good condition but packaging may have signs of shelf wear/aging or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Acceptable — item is in working order but may show signs of wear such as scratches or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Used — An item that has been opened and may show signs of wear. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Refurbished — A used item that has been renewed or updated and verified to be in proper working condition. Not necessarily completed by the original manufacturer.

New
New York, New York, U.S.A. 2003 Hardcover New 1568582587. Flawless.

Ships from: New Hampton, NY

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • •Canadian
  • •International
  • •Standard, 48 States
  • •Standard (AK, HI)
  • •Express, 48 States
  • •Express (AK, HI)
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Close
Sort by
Sending request ...

More About This Book

Overview

Genetics is in the news. What's not in the news are its origins in a racist 20th-century pseudoscience called eugenics. In 1904, the U.S. began a large-scale eugenics movement that was championed by the nation's medical, political, and religious elite. Eugenics sought to eliminate social "undesirables" and was eventually copied by the Third Reich. Whites, blacks, Native Americans — nearly everyone was subject to sterilization, castration, and in some cases, euthanasia. In the aftermath of world revulsion over Nazi atrocities, eugenics was reborn with a new name and new packaging: genetics. This is an explosive, detailed, and vigorously researched account of U.S. race science and its "enlightened" reincarnation worldwide as human engineering. Illustrations accompany this startling investigation of America's century-long attempt to create a master race through mass sterilization and human breeding programs.

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times
Black has used the considerable work on eugenics, assiduously checking sources...and drawn on original published and archival materials in the United States and Europe, collecting some 50,000 documents, he tells us, with the aid of numerous volunteers working in several dozen repositories. If he covers what is in the main a well-known story, he adds to it substantial new detail, much of it chilling in its exposure of the shameless racism, class prejudice and cruelties of eugenic attitudes and practices in the United States.—Daniel J. Kevles
The Washington Post
Black, whose mother lived under Nazi rule in Poland, writes here with the zeal of an avenger, albeit one with the assistance of a team of 50 researchers who unearthed some 50,000 documents to support his case. He traces the eugenics movement to English economist Thomas Malthus's argument that charitable assistance to the poor "made no sense in the natural scheme of human progress" and to its later distillation in the theories of Francis J. Galton, cousin and contemporary of Charles Darwin. — Gregory Mott
Publishers Weekly
In the first half of the 20th century, more than 60,000 Americans —poor, uneducated, members of minorities— were forcibly sterilized to prevent them from passing on supposedly defective genes. This policy, called eugenics, was the brainchild of such influential people as Rockefellers, Andrew Carnegie and Margaret Sanger. Black, author of the bestselling IBM and the Holocaust, set out to show "the sad truth of how the scientific rationales that drove killer doctors at Auschwitz were first concocted on Long Island" at the Carnegie Institution's Cold Spring Harbor complex. Along the way, he offers a detailed and heavily footnoted history that traces eugenics from its inception to America's eventual, post-WWII retreat from it, complete with stories of the people behind it, their legal battles, their detractors and the tragic stories of their victims. Black's team of 50 researchers have done an impressive job, and the resulting story is at once shocking and gripping. But the publisher's claim that Black has uncovered the truth behind America's "dirty little secret" is a bit overstated. There is a growing library of books on eugenics, including Daniel Kevles's In the Name of Eugenics and Ellen Chesler's biography of Margaret Sanger, Woman of Valor. Black's writing tends to fluctuate from scholarly to melodramatic and apocalyptic (and sometimes arrogant), but the end result is an important book that will add to the public's understanding of this critical chapter of American history. (Sept. 7)

Forecast: The publisher is supporting this in a big way, with a 75,000 first printing, a $100,000 marketing budget and a 20-city author tour. Given the success of IBM and the Holocaust, this stands to get media attention and excellent sales. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information

Library Journal
That there existed an organized eugenics movement in America during the early 20th century is one of this country's dirty little secrets. In this bombshell of investigative journalism, Black (IBM and the Holocaust) reveals that it was extensive, systematic, well funded, and supported by major political and intellectual leaders; perhaps most startling, it directly inspired the rise of Nazism in Hitler's Germany. In America, the doctrine of eugenics was justified by pseudoscientific ideologies of social Darwinism and aimed, ultimately, to improve the human race by culling inferior lineages from the gene pool. The primary tool was forced sterilization of those deemed "feeble-minded." In practice, it became a legal and purportedly high-minded means by which to conduct racial and class warfare-the very features that made it appealing to the Nazis. It took the horrors of the Holocaust to discredit eugenics, but, as Black cautions, with governments today creating DNA banks of their citizens and groups from law enforcement to insurance companies seeking access to these banks, there is a reborn threat. This chilling and well-researched book is highly recommended.-Gregg Sapp, Science Lib., SUNY at Albany Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A journalistic exposé of the early-20th-century American eugenics movement and its application in the death camps of the Third Reich. By Black’s (IBM and the Holocaust, not reviewed) account, the various American eugenicists who brought crop- and livestock-breeding techniques to the business of creating perfect humans were masters of scientific fraud, working with the blessing and material support of major corporations and foundations in the interest of "racism, ethnic hatred and academic elitism." Though predicated on overstatement—many such scientists, then as now, were looking to eradicate categories of disease, not of people—Black’s case has many merits: plenty of practitioners, working through hospitals and laboratories meant to stamp out the "feebleminded" and crippled and even those unfortunates with bad vision, had in mind the creation of a Nordic European "super race enjoying biological dominion over all others." The eugenics program put in practice throughout the US, but with particular zeal in Virginia and California, targeted victims of disease, to be sure, but also the poor and members of ethnic minorities, especially blacks and Native Americans. That program met with some resistance among scientists and social engineers, who complained that such things as tuberculosis and violent crime alike were the products of poverty and not heredity; but it also enjoyed strong support among political leaders, including Woodrow Wilson and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Along the way, Adolf Hitler became enamored of American experiments to rid the nation of the genetically suspect, and American eugenicists did a land-office business as consultants and lecturers in the Third Reich; soon,as US scientist C.M. Goethe noted, the Germans had sterilized more people in two years than California had in a quarter century. But even after WWII, Black writes, "after the Hitler regime, after the Nuremberg Trials, some twenty thousand Americans were eugenically sterilized by states and untold others by federal programs on Indian reservations and in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico." Though sure to be contested at points, of interest to human-rights activists monitoring the doings of bioengineers—who are just eugenicists, Black argues, under another name. First printing of 75,000; $100,000 ad/promo; author tour. Agent: Lynne Rabinoff
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781568582580
  • Publisher: Basic Books
  • Publication date: 9/7/2003
  • Pages: 372
  • Product dimensions: 6.36 (w) x 9.18 (h) x 1.73 (d)

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 9 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(3)

4 Star

(3)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(2)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
Sort by: Showing all of 9 Customer Reviews

  • Posted May 13, 2010

    What? Are you making this up?

    You will not believe this was happening in America.

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 26, 2003

    When Will They Ever Learn?

    War Against The Weak America has prided itself for many years as the bastion of freedom, democracy and inalienable human rights. The recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq provide ample fodder to foster this image. Edwin Black gives cause to question the time-honored image. His War Against The Weak he provides the reader with shocking documented accounts of forced, legal sterilizations in most of the United States prior to World War II. As if that were not enough to tarnish the image, he informs us of a program of racial hygiene in the U.S. that was developed and supported by scientists and philanthropists and many public figures. This program, Black shows, became the blueprint for Nazi Germany¿s ideal of a ¿super race.¿ From the methodology that Edwin Black has demonstrated in his earlier works, his team of researchers has again helped him to conclusively provide support for his argument. In the minds of the American eugenists around the turn of the 20th century, the Nordic race was considered to be the ideal race. Any mixing of races was considered to be an evil to be avoided. American Nativism, reacting to the massive influx of immigrants, contributed to popular support for this view. Deeply influenced by British researchers, who coined the term ¿eugenics,¿ U.S. eugenist Charles Davenport became obsessed with racial mixture and its dangers. He felt compelled to embark upon a program of ¿redirecting human evolution¿ in order to preserve the `purity¿ of the Nordic race, and his stated goal was to develop a super race in America. He was one of the first to propose the widespread exportation of African-Americans back to Africa, with a view to purifying the racial situation in the United States. Davenport¿s program received support from many quarters, including the American Breeder¿s Association, the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations, the Harriman family, President Theodore Roosevelt, Governor Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of State Knox, Alexander Graham Bell, and even Dr. Kellogg, of Battle Creek fame. At the first international conference on eugenics, held in London in 1912, Winston Churchill was in attendance. The prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association hailed this conference as a triumph of Social Darwinism. In 1911, Davenport published a textbook on eugenics in which he declared that Jews were undesirable immigrants to America because they went against the ideals of community purpose. His list of undesirables did not stop with Jews, however. He also included criminals (even petty criminals), the poor, drunkards, the feebleminded, epileptics, the insane, the weak, the deformed, the handicapped (including deaf, dumb and blind people) as well as the ¿weak.¿ Not only were these American citizens considered to be undesirable, but also many people who saw a future for themselves and their families in the USA. Edwin Black expertly exposes the little secret of American immigration policy. Having captured the interest and influence of the rich and the powerful, the American eugenists sought to drastically reduce the numbers of ¿undesirables¿ seeking a new home in America. Their influence could be felt on Capitol Hill, when Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924, thus imposing quotas based on national origin, with the Nordic peoples being granted the most generous quotas. This insidious application of racial and eugenic pseudo-science was signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge, and, after some muted objections, implemented by President Herbert Hoover. This law governed U.S. immigration until 1952. Clearly, immigration policy was dictated not only by a Congress that kowtowed to the ¿Know Nothings¿ and other reactionaries, but most definitely by the climate of racial purity that emanated from the researchers and academicians who furthered the eugenics agenda in America. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Black¿s research is the bridge he constructs between the program of the American eugenists and th

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 31, 2005

    Shocking and Painful Clarification in U.S. History

    If you read one book this year, make it 'War Against the Weak.' Its message harbors an explicit warning, based on the past, of expectations in the future. A mysterious chapter in American History is revealed: the 'eugenics' movement in the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century. It was a pervasive, influential, insidious and malevolent idea - that the elimination of the 'lower tenth' of the population would improve the overall human race. Who were these 'lower tenth?' Those with inherited diseases, or those who were blind, deaf, epileptic, or diabetic; those who were unemployed, alcoholic, poor, unlucky and itinerant. The people with mental problems, or physical problems, that needed to be cared for by society. The children who did not learn quickly, or who were born with disorders or from the wrong parentage - these were the despised who the arrogant eugenicists in their hubris declared 'unfit for life'. The eugenicists not only wanted the 'undesirables' sterilized, but wanted their families 'rounded up' and sterilized as well, to prevent any 'gene contamination'. The Eugenics movement began in Cold Springs Harbor, supported by an endowment from a wealthy Foundation. The pernicious eugenics ideology infected some leading charitable organizations of the day, certain factions of the government, some elements of major universities. Some highly educated and respectable intellectuals of the period subscribed to the theories of 'elimination of the lower tenth of humanity - the dregs.' What a shock to learn that Hitler used the pseudoscience and writings of the Eugenics Society in the US as his model for the 'final solution' in Nazi Germany. American Eugenicists had been barnstorming in Europe to begin eugenics movements throughout; they pointed to the Aryan prototype - blonde, blue-eyed - as the desirable genetic type to promote. This pleased the Germans and Swedes. The Germans especially imported and embraced these concepts and conceits from the American eugenicists. There were some American intellectuals and 'eugenicists' who supported the 'racial cleansing' theories put into practise by the Nazi's during the World War II (and, some of them, even after the end of the war). Some American doctors deliberately allowed infants to die; or supported a pro-euthanization stand for the elimination of the 'unfit'. One surgeon, famous for banishing 'unfit' infants untreated into the arms of death, actually starred in a Hollywood movie promoting euthanasia for 'unfit infants'. This was called the Black Stork. California lead the nation for the number of sterilizations applied to citizens! Thousands of inmates of prisons, hospitals, asylums were sterilized (mostly women) by a society that judged them unworthy of procreation. The author brings us up to the present, the Human Genome Project. Now human genes belonging to individuals are stored and archived and the information is shared and utilized by law enforcement and now commercial users such as businesses, and insurance companies. Although France has outlawed the use of genetic data banks by commercial interests, it is one of the few countries which has the foresight to have done so. The author predicts a new 'genetic underclass' who will be unemployable, uninsurable due to their potential genetic diseases or disorders. He equates this with the old eugenics movement to eliminate the undesirables from the human race to create a more 'desirable, healthy and worthy' race of human beings. Eugenics still reverberates into the 21st century, and will for years to come.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 15, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 2, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 28, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 22, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 16, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 20, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 9 Customer Reviews
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Why is this product inappropriate?
Comments (optional)