title: Inventing the Criminal: A History of German Criminology, 1880-1945 (Studies in Legal History)
author:  Richard F. Wetzell 
description: A tremendous accomplishment. . . . No serious researcher in the area can afford to ignore it.--<i>Journal of Modern History</i><br /><br /><br /><br />Wetzell's elegantly argued book offers a provocative but convincing history of the fate of biological determinism in Germany--a story which turns out to be much more complicated than we thought. Exploring the claims of penal reformers, criminal psychiatrists, lawyers, doctors, and politicians, <i>Inventing the Criminal</i> shows that even under the Nazis, scholars remained uncomfortable with the idea that individuals could be 'born criminals.' If Wetzell is right--and his carefully analyzed evidence suggests that he is--we will need to revise substantially our picture of the continuities and discontinuities in the history of German science.--Suzanne Marchand, Louisiana State University<br /><br /><br /><br />Firmly based on a vast array of both juridical and medical sources, <i>Inventing the Criminal</i> makes a major contribution to our knowledge of criminological discourse. It ought to be read both by students of modern Germany and by anyone who is interested in the development of attitudes toward deviant behavior.--Andrew Lees, Rutgers University<br /><br /><br /><br />It is surprising that no comprehensive study has been written until now on German criminological theory. Richard Wetzell goes a long way toward filling this gap with a groundbreaking and thorough survey of German criminological thought. . . . <i>Inventing the Criminal</i> provides a well-researched overview of the development of German criminological thought.--<i>Bulletin of the History of Medicine</i><br /><br /><br /><br />Wetzell has added to this new historical literature on particular realms of German life under Nazism with a book that investigates the history of the discipline of criminology from the late nineteenth century to the end of World War II. . . . Wetzell's book is solidly researched and clearly organized and written.--<i>American Historical Review</i><br /><br />
zlib_text: Crime and Criminal Justice in Modern Germany
  
  
  **Studies in German History**
  
  _Published in Association with the German Historical Institute, Washington,
  D.C_ .
  
  **General Editors:**
  
  Hartmut Berghoff, Director of the German Historical Institute, Washington,
  D.C.
  
  Uwe Spiekermann, Deputy Director of the German Historical Institute,
  Washington, D.C.
  
  **Volume 1**
  
  _Nature in German History_
  
  Edited by Christof Mauch
  
  **Volume 2**
  
  _Coping with the Nazi Past: West German Debates on Nazism and Generational
  Conflict, 1955–1975_
  
  Edited by Philipp Gassert and Alan E. Steinweis
  
  **Volume 3**
  
  _Adolf Cluss, Architect: From Germany to America_
  
  Edited by Alan Lessoff and Christof Mauch
  
  **Volume 4**
  
  _Two Lives in Uncertain Times: Facing the Challenges of the 20th Century as
  Scholars and Citizens_
  
  Wilma Iggers and Georg Iggers
  
  **Volume 5**
  
  _Driving Germany: The Landscape of the German Autobahn, 1930–1970_
  
  Thomas Zeller
  
  **Volume 6**
  
  _The Pleasure of a Surplus Income: Part-Time Work, Gende