Jennifer Crane is lecturer in health geographies at the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, working at the intersection of history, geography, and sociologies of health. Before joining Bristol, she held teaching and research positions at the Universities of Warwick and Oxford, including being PI on a Wellcome Research Fellowship. She has published popular and scholarly works exploring how diverse publics access state welfare, analysing diverse case studies of child welfare, the NHS, and gifted children. Much of her work has employed and driven new analysis of 'experiential expertise', including her first book, Child Protection in England, 1960-2000.

• Introduction Everyday Encounters with Stupidity and Intellect, 1944-1962 Emergent Voluntary Action for Gifted Children, 1963-1969 Young People's Engagement with Gifted Spaces, 1970-1987 Making Future Leaders: Psychology, Giftedness, and Legacies of Eugenics, 1970-1989 Industrial and Industrious Future Elites, 1990-2010 Gifted Children Saving 'Europe' and 'the World', 1975-2010 Conclusion

Crane asks what is at stake in these discussions around giftedness, both for the children themselves and the adult society of which they were part. Her ambitious answer encompasses discontent around the levelling tendencies of the British welfare state, the diplomacy of the Cold War, and an innovative reading of materials from the 'gifted' organizations themselves which allow Crane to give children their due recognition as historical actors and agents.

Jennifer Crane is lecturer in health geographies at the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, working at the intersection of history, geography, and sociologies of health. Before joining Bristol, she held teaching and research positions at the Universities of Warwick and Oxford, including being PI on a Wellcome Research Fellowship. She has published popular and scholarly works exploring how diverse publics access state welfare, analysing diverse case studies of child welfare, the NHS, and gifted children. Much of her work has employed and driven new analysis of 'experiential expertise', including her first book, Child Protection in England, 1960-2000.

• Introduction Everyday Encounters with Stupidity and Intellect, 1944-1962 Emergent Voluntary Action for Gifted Children, 1963-1969 Young People's Engagement with Gifted Spaces, 1970-1987 Making Future Leaders: Psychology, Giftedness, and Legacies of Eugenics, 1970-1989 Industrial and Industrious Future Elites, 1990-2010 Gifted Children Saving 'Europe' and 'the World', 1975-2010 Conclusion

Crane asks what is at stake in these discussions around giftedness, both for the children themselves and the adult society of which they were part. Her ambitious answer encompasses discontent around the levelling tendencies of the British welfare state, the diplomacy of the Cold War, and an innovative reading of materials from the 'gifted' organizations themselves which allow Crane to give children their due recognition as historical actors and agents.

Jennifer Crane is lecturer in health geographies at the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, working at the intersection of history, geography, and sociologies of health. Before joining Bristol, she held teaching and research positions at the Universities of Warwick and Oxford, including being PI on a Wellcome Research Fellowship. She has published popular and scholarly works exploring how diverse publics access state welfare, analysing diverse case studies of child welfare, the NHS, and gifted children. Much of her work has employed and driven new analysis of 'experiential expertise', including her first book, Child Protection in England, 1960-2000.

• Introduction Everyday Encounters with Stupidity and Intellect, 1944-1962 Emergent Voluntary Action for Gifted Children, 1963-1969 Young People's Engagement with Gifted Spaces, 1970-1987 Making Future Leaders: Psychology, Giftedness, and Legacies of Eugenics, 1970-1989 Industrial and Industrious Future Elites, 1990-2010 Gifted Children Saving 'Europe' and 'the World', 1975-2010 Conclusion

Crane asks what is at stake in these discussions around giftedness, both for the children themselves and the adult society of which they were part. Her ambitious answer encompasses discontent around the levelling tendencies of the British welfare state, the diplomacy of the Cold War, and an innovative reading of materials from the 'gifted' organizations themselves which allow Crane to give children their due recognition as historical actors and agents.