Breeding Superman: Nietzsche, Race and Eugenics in Edwardian and Interwar Britain (Liverpool University Press - Studies in European Regional Cultures)

"Before the First World War there existed an intellectual turmoil in Britain as great as any in Germany, France or Russia, as the debates over Nietzsche and eugenics in the context of early modernism reveal. With the rise of fascism after 1918, these debates became more ideologically driven, with science and vitalist philosophy being hailed in some quarters as saviours from bourgeois decadence, vituperated in others as heralding the onset of barbarism. Breeding Superman looks at several of the leading Nietzscheans and eugenicists, and challenges the long-cherished belief that British intellectuals were fundamentally uninterested in race. The result is a study of radical ideas which are conventionally written out of histories of the politics and culture of the period"-- Provided by publisher "Breeding Superman questions the received notion of British intellectual stolidity, and argues that if eugenics and fascism were ultimately rejected by British society, this was not for want of intellectual backers. Before the First World War there existed an intellectual turmoil in Britain as great as any in Germany, France or Russia, as the debates over Nietzsche and eugenics in the context of early modernism reveal. With the rise of fascism after 1918, these debates became more ideologically driven, with science and vitalist philosophy being hailed in some quarters as saviours from bourgeois decadence, vituperated in others as heralding the onset of barbarism. Breeding Superman looks at several of the leading Nietzscheans and eugenicists, and challenges the long-cherished belief that British intellectuals were fundamentally uninterested in race. The result is a study of radical ideas that are conventionally written out of histories of the politics and culture of the period."--BOOK JACKET

Before the First World War there existed an intellectual turmoil in Britain as great as any in Germany, France or Russia, as the debates over Nietzsche and eugenics in the context of early modernism reveal. With the rise of fascism after 1918, these debates became more ideologically driven, with science and vitalist philosophy being hailed in some quarters as saviors from bourgeois decadence, vituperated in others as heralding the onset of barbarism. Breeding Superman looks at several of the leading Nietzscheans and eugenicists, and challenges the long-cherished belief that British intellectuals were fundamentally uninterested in race. The result is a study of radical ideas which are conventionally written out of histories of the politics and culture of the period.

In This Text, Dan Stone Challenges The Traditional View Held By Many Political Historians That British Fascism Was Nothing More Than A Pale Imitation Of Its Continental Counterparts, And Something Of An Irrelevance In British Political History. Dan Stone. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 167-193) And Index. Machine generated contents note: Introduction: The Extremes of Englishness 1 1 Oscar Levy: A Nietzschean Vision 12 2 Anthony Mario Ludovici: A 'Light-Weight Superman' 33 3 Nietzsche and Eugenics 62 4 Race and Eugenics 94 5 The 'Lethal Chamber' in Eugenic Thought 115 Conclusion: From 'Underman' to 'Underclass' 135. Elizabeth A. Kaye specializes in communications as part of her coaching and consulting practice. She has edited Requirements for Certification since the 2000-01 edition. Oscar Levy: A Nietzschean Vision......Page 2 Anthony Mario Ludovici:......Page 9 Notes......Page 13