Baughan’s Saving the Children is a scrupulously well-researched and fascinating study of the Save the Children organization (hereinafter Save), started in 1919 in the United Kingdom by the sisters Dorothy Buxton and Englatyne Jebb. Existing scholarship focuses heavily on the early years when these fascinating and indefatigable activists were Save but seems to have lost interest after Jebb’s death in 1928. But Save did more than survive. It recently celebrated its centennial and is one of the world’s largest aid agencies. Baughan’s narrative nicely demonstrates how grand forces such as internationalism, capitalism, imperialism, and decolonization intersected with personal and organizational elements to produce a Save that is never too far from the center.
The book is divided into eight chapters, including an introduction that is the scene setter and a conclusion that attempts to tie a bow on the story. Chapter 1 places the origins of Save in its colonial,...