A eugenics, or involuntary sterilization program, was prevalent in North Carolina until the mid 70's. During this time a sterilization Board would pass judgment on over 7,600 people. At first the program targeted mentally ill individuals but then expanded to include welfare recipients, "feeble-minded" individuals and anyone deemed promiscuous or high risk. Young unwed mothers were forced to undergo sterilization or lose welfare benefits for themselves and their families.

This book appears to have been written in 2003. If it is a re-release, it would be nice to know if anything has happened in the area in the past 9 years. Further, I would have liked to have read more survivor stories. They would have helped to put the book into context. My other criticism is that the book seemed to be all over the place time-wise. It was not written chronologically, which made it a bit hard to keep up. Otherwise, I enjoyed the newspaper articles scattered throughout. They brought the issue closer to home and put everything in context. Despite my criticisms, I did think the book was well-written. It brought to light an issue I had never heard of before, which makes it immensely valuable. ( )