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DIANA WYNDHAM, Eugenics in Australia: Striving for National Fitness. London: Diana Wyndham and the Gallon Institute, 2003. Pp. 406. ISBN 0-9504066-7-8. £5.00 (paperback).
doi:10.1017/S0007087406367891
In recent decades numerous historians have investigated the history of eugenic movements beyond Germany, America and Britain. The result has been a series of startling revelations. Nations associated with benevolent social policies were responsible for tens of thousands of compulsory sterilizations. Countries with proud scientific traditions revered scientists who were guilty of accepting grossly simplified ideas about the roles of genes in behaviour. And dozens of ardently admired statesmen, educationalists, feminists, writers and social commentators have been implicated in pro-eugenic campaigns targeted at those unable to defend themselves. Diana Wyndham's Eugenics in Australia is an addition to this growing literature. Wyndham's book explores the origins of eugenic ideas in Australia, beginning with the early days of settlement and, subsequently, the profound influence of social Darwinism upon Australian political and social thinkers. Eugenics in...