In the late 1930s and early 1940s, a wave of state-sponsored “national fitness” programs swept Britain and its former settler colonies. In Strong, Beautiful and Modern, Charlotte Macdonald shows how governments encouraged citizens to be healthier and more active, thereby reinforcing the cultural ties of the Empire. At a time when government concern over public health issues such as obesity are once again on the rise, Macdonald explains why the first national fitness drive ultimately failed. This book is a lively investigation into how people and governments think about their health and well-being, and how those historical views have shaped our modern life.

Charlotte Macdonald's profile page

• Short-listed, Ernest Scott Prize
• Winner, The Ian Wards Prize, Archives and Records Association of New Zealand (ARANZ)

Charlotte Macdonald is a professor of history at Victoria University of Wellington. She has strong interests in women’s history, both in New Zealand and the wider British Empire, and in the history of sport. Publishing widely on these subjects, Charlotte Macdonald is also the co-editor (with Frances Porter) of My Hand Will Write What My Heart Dictates (1996) and (with Merimeri Penfold and Bridget Williams) The Book of New Zealand Women / Ko Kui Ma Te Kaupapa (1991).