Research Catalog

Title

Strong, beautiful and modern : national fitness in Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, 1935-1960 / Charlotte Macdonald.

Author

Macdonald, Charlotte.

Publication

Wellington, N.Z. : Bridget Williams Books, 2011.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

240 p. : ill.; 24 cm.

Summary

"In the late 1930s and early 1940s, a wave of state-sponsored 'national ftness' programmes swept Britain and its former colonies. Following revelations of the Nazi enthusiasm for government-backed sports and the organisation of mass leisure, the programmes quickly foundered. They probably laid, however, the foundations for the twentieth century's obsession with ftness - a key facet of modern life. In this highly original account, Charlotte Macdonald shows how governments became convinced that they must encourage citizens to be healthier and more active, and how these efforts reinforced the cultural ties of the Empire. Alongside these state-sponsored efforts was a growing emphasis from business, the medical establishment and popular culture on the importance of having a better body. Strong, Beautiful and Modern explains the origins of that most modern preoccupation, the body obsession. And, at a time when government concern over public health issues such as obesity is once again on the rise, it offers valuable lessons as to why the frst national ftness drive was ultimately a failure. Drawing on extensive research, and written in vivid, lively prose, Strong, Beautiful and Modern is an historical investigation into the way that people and their governments think about their health and well-being, and how those historical views have shaped our modern life."--Publisher's description.

Subjects

• Physical fitness > Social aspects
• Physical fitness > Government policy
• Women > New Zealand
• Physical fitness > Social aspects > New Zealand
• Physical fitness > Government policy > New Zealand
• Women > New Zealand > Social conditions

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Movement is life : National fitness in England and Scotland -- Leisure and democracy : Physical welfare as the people's entitlement in New Zealand -- Education or health? National fitness in New South Wales and across Australia -- Fitness for war and a changed world : National fitness in Canada -- Healthy bodies, states and modernity : a twentieth-century dilemma.

ISBN

• 9781927131404 (pbk.)
• 1927131405 (pbk.)

OCLC

• 767737073
• SCSB-11800513

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library