Blood and Homeland

Reviews / Votes

"These essays make the convincing argument that race was more important in Eastern Europe, compared with eugenics in other parts of the world, and that the region's political leaders believed that racial nationalism was the key to creating national identity, thus their support to the science of better breeding. Summing up: recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above." * Choice * "The editors tell us that in Central and Eastern Europe, eugenics and national racism were the cornerstones used in building the nation and the state. Far from giving in to the siren call of the forces of reaction, this 'parti de la nature', as Claude Levi-Strauss calls it, brought together two modern and highly toxic substances: eugenics and ultra nationalism." * Medical History * "Filled with new information and original ideas and offering intriguing incentives for further research, this well-edited volume is not only a remarkable edition to the literature on European eugenics but provides invaluable insights into the broader currents of intellectual life in central and southeast Europe." * Slavic Review * "Bisher kaum bekannt war die Entwicklung der Eugenik in den ostmitteleuropaeischen Staaten. Marius Turda und Paul J. Weindling haben sich dieses weissen Flecks angenommen und bieten mit ihrem Sammelband einen umfangreichen UEberblick zu verschiedenen Aspekten und Tendenzen in den Laendern von OEsterreich bis Rumaenien und von Estland bis nach Bulgarien. Waehrend die Forschung zur Eugenik meist im Bereich der Medizinalgeschichte oder im Kontext des Nationalsozialismus abgehandelt wird, gehen die Autoren des Buches der Frage in einem allgemeinhistorischen Zusammenhang nach: Wie beeinflusste eugenisches Denken die Ausformung der Nationalismen in den jungen Staaten des 'Cordon sanitaire' oder konstituierte ihn gar? Der Sammelband is nicht nur ein aufschlussreiches Kompendium, er wird ein Standardwerk zum Thema Eugenik in Ostmitteleuropa bleiben." * Jahrbuecher fuer Geschichte Osteuropas * "The Central European University Press is to be congratulated for publishing two outstanding scholarly analyses of the root causes of anti-Roma racism, which is rapidly taking center stage in the drama of the East European transition process. The books (Blood and Homeland and The Roma in Romanian History) fill a large gap in urgently needed knowledge. They may well become essential research tools for politicians and social and educational planning departments that are approaching the challenge of European integration. The books will be useful also for university courses in history, sociology, and politics, as well as Holocaust and genocide studies." * Transitions Online *