By: James Bussey

James Bussey — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 13:48:37 +0000

I’ve read most of these books: they all are very similar in tone, being written by well-educated wealthy middle class journalists. Such people are the best equipped to get the most out of any country they live in – you’d have to read the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen to get the other side of the story. Even Aftenposten does the occasional labour exploitation story in its Sunday magazine.
I prefer reading contemporary historical books about the Nordic countries, so here are three I would recommend about the post-war Norden:-
The World of the Norseman – Odd Hölaas. Written in 1949, it is about Norway’s post-WWII recovery, how collaboration with the Nazis was dealt with, and how the country united to rebuild herself as a social democracy in the pre-oil years.
The Scandinavians – Donald S Connery. This 1966 book uses the old definition of the Nordic countries, visiting all five of the main ones. This was written at what was arguably ‘Peak Scandinavia’ – the high point of the social democratic years: before either the oil money kicked in; the demands on welfare systems became too great; the region became less isolated to global problems such as the drug epidemic and mass migration/demand for semi- and unskilled labour in wealthy countries; climate and environmental concerns etc etc.
To get a real look at the ‘Dark side of the Scandinavian Dream Society’ featured in Nordic Noir novels, read ‘The New Totalitarians’ by Roland Huntford, written in 1972 about the affects of four decades of the government of Sweden by the Social Democratic Party.
Huntford is better known for revisionist accounts of polar expeditions carried out in its ‘Golden Age’ of exploration, but this lesser known book is that rare, or probably unique thing: a nearly completely negative account of life in a Nordic country. It’s readable and entertaining enough, but as one-sided as his book about Scott and Amundsen’s ‘race to the Pole.’

Comments on: Scandinavia Books: The Best Reads on Northern Europe

By: James Bussey