Breeding Superman: Nietzsche, Race and Eugenics in Edwardian and Interwar Britain (Studies in Social and Political Thought, 6)

by Dan Stone, Gerard Delanty (Editor), Kevin h (Editor)

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.

Genres: History, Philosophy, Eugenics, European History, Politics, British Literature, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

Dan Stone was born in Lincoln and brought up in Birmingham. He studied at the University of Oxford and since 1999 has taught at Royal Holloway, University of London. Dan is a historian of modern Europe with particular interests in the Holocaust, comparative genocide, fascism, race theory, and the history of anthropology.

Reviews

[C. B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most illuminating works of twentieth-century British history that I've read. A thoughtful examination of the significance of eugenic and racist thought in culture and politics, and its relationship to ‘Englishness’. Certainly a challenge to G.R. Searle's work, which tends to downplay the links between English eugenics and Nazi eugenics.

[Matthew W · Rating 5 out of 5]

An informative look at the forgotten proto-fascist Nietzschean intellectual movements in England. Ironically, a Jew Dr. Oscar Levy was one of the biggest promoters of Nietzsche's war against Jewish slave morality and its bastard more liberal offspring Christianity. Oscar Levy felt that Judaism and Christianity had a very negative effect (they are alien religions to Europe after all) on Western civilization that was largely responsible for the decline/decadence of the west. Levy was also an early supporter of Italian fascism until Mr. Mussolini decided to become anti-Semitic. Naturally, Oscar Levy was not a huge fan of Uncle Adolf and his 12 year long "One Thousand Year Reich." Oscar Levy had a protege (or more like associate) and fellow Nietzschean philosopher Anthony M. Ludovici at his side for most of his later career. Ludovici and Levy would have a falling out however due to the formers support of German National Socialism. Ludovici also would become more and more obsessed with his hatred for God's chosen. Oscar Levy ended up dying in 1946 never completely making up with his associate Anthony M. Ludovici. Ludovici although falling into obscurity after WW2, would continue for the rest of his life promoting eugenics, aristocratic values, Anti-Jewish/Anti-Christian sentiments, and anti-miscegenation. If one looks at the current situation in the UK, it is fairly obvious that Ludovici's ideas are still unfortunately highly relevant today.

"Breeding Superman" also takes a look at Nietzsche's influence on eugenics in England as well as the connections people made between Nietzsche and Darwin. Interestingly enough, out of all the people mentioned in the book, Oscar Levy seems to be the one that understood Nietzsche the most, not using his ideas out of context like most have. Ironically, Levy felt Nazism had a fundamentally Jewish character. haha PURE GOLD!

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

The portraits of the British Nietzscheans Oscar Levy and Anthony Ludovici were quite interesting, showing the numerous (reactionary) ways that Nietzsche's work was interpreted by its early proponents. The rest of the book, while useful, was a bit too scattershot, and studiously avoided looking at Nietzsche's texts to determine to what extent the eugenicists were correct in claiming him for their camp.

[Dejan Basic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific history - rich, revealing and incisive