Arguably her most important and influential book, this controversial work, first published in 1922 by pioneering birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger, attempted to broaden the still-radical idea of birth control beyond its socialist and feminist roots. Moving away from a single-minded focus on women's reproductive rights to the larger issue of the general health and economic prosperity of the whole human race, Sanger argued that birth control was pivotal to a rational approach toward dealing with the threat of overpopulation and its ruinous consequences in poverty and disease. Through this book Sanger hoped to persuade the medical establishment to assume control over contraceptive distribution, and thereby to lessen the religious, legal, and moral opposition that continued to restrict access to contraceptive information. However important this book is to the history of women's rights, it remains a very problematic work from our more scientifically informed perspective today. In arguing for population control Sanger made frequent reference to the then fashionable "science" of eugenics. She also adopted its rhetoric, using such callous phrases as "the feeble-minded" and the "unfit" and advocating birth control as a means of limiting the breeding of "defectives, delinquents and dependents." Although she incorporated views and terminology commonly held in respectable medical and scientific circles of the day, Sanger's writings on eugenics, and this book in particular, have become fodder for her critics both on the left and the right, who seek to diminish her achievements and obscure what is ultimately a powerful feminist message: when women gain greater control over their fertility, they will improve the human race. This unusual and historically significant book is complemented by a thoughtful and informative introduction by Peter C. Engelman, assistant editor of The Margaret Sanger Papers Project, who provides much insight by placing this work in the context of the age and Sanger's life.

The Pivot of Civilization was published in 1922. It contains Margaret Sanger's belief that civilization rises or falls on how it views the 'people problem.' It wasn't simply the fact that there were too many people. The kind of people roaming the planet were also a problem. What kind of people? Sanger says it explicitly: feeble-minded, defective, moronic, epileptic people. What should be done with them? They should be put into camps. They should be sterilized. They should be segregated. Does this sound familiar?It is but one small step to add: "They should be exterminated."10 years later, Sanger introduced her 'Plan for Peace' (included in this book) which made similar calls. So it was that some of the most devilish ideas carried out by the Nazis not more than a decade later were just as popular in America. Indeed, it appears the Nazis may have gotten their ideas from American eugenicists Sanger's book will give you a new perspective on the intellectual climate in the early 1900s and a new understanding of contemporary events and issues.

Margaret Sanger was the founder of the birth control movement in the United States. A trained nurse by profession she founded a magazine on birth control as well as the first birth control clinic in the U.S. located in Brooklyn. She organized the first World Population Conference and was the first president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. This is her fascinating story.