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The Nazi War on Cancer, by Robert N. Proctor (Princeton, 380 pp., $29.95)

THE title of this volume incorporates the words Nazi, war, and cancer. It’s hard to get more serious than that. Yet Robert Proctor’s book has been treated in certain quarters as something of a sick joke. It is easy to caricature this work, based on quotes taken out of context and promotional material emphasizing “the flip side of fascism,” as an attempt to show that the Nazis weren’t so bad after all: Despite their unfortunate genocidal tendencies, they were remarkably “progressive” and “socially responsible” in matters of public health.

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Jacob Sullum

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The Nazi War on Cancer, by Robert N. Proctor (Princeton, 380 pp., $29.95)

THE title of this volume incorporates the words Nazi, war, and cancer. It’s hard to get more serious than that. Yet Robert Proctor’s book has been treated in certain quarters as something of a sick joke. It is easy to caricature this work, based on quotes taken out of context and promotional material emphasizing “the flip side of fascism,” as an attempt to show that the Nazis weren’t so bad after all: Despite their unfortunate genocidal tendencies, they were remarkably “progressive” and “socially responsible” in matters of public health.