Scandinavia: At War with Trolls--A Modern History from the Napoleonic Era to the Third Millenium [Hardcover]

Tony Griffiths (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 2004

Tony Griffiths' Scandinavia is a compact, sharp, and accessible introduction to the history, politics and culture of Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, from the Napoleonic era to the present. His lively narrative brings to life the modern history of the region, demolishing national stereotypes in the process. No other book illuminates so tellingly the salient events and personalities of modern Scandinavia, including artists, musicians, and intellectuals such as Ibsen, Bergman, Kierkegaard, Munch, and Sibelius. This combination of a detailed look at Scandinavian culture and politics within a concise and thorough history makes this book the first and only of its kind, and unravels the mysteries and misunderstandings of this region and its people.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The reader may set off for Scandinavia safe in the knowledge that whether conversation turns to Moomin Trolls or Gro Harlem Brundtland, she will not be in the dark."--Anglo-Norse Review
"An heroically compressed history of the politics and diplomacy by which the four nations have won and held their independence, and a witty and affectionate account of their leading writers, artists and businessmen."--Hugh Stretton, Adelaide Review
"He blends together, in a fascinating way, history, politics and culture, and draws illuminating pen pictures of the archetypal nordic heroes."--Ulf-Erik Slotte, Hufvudstadsbladet
"Griffiths gives an account of the cultural history in a general historical survey. I wish that similar surveys in Scandinavian languages also had this ambition."--Sune Jungar, Scandinavian Journal of History
"Griffiths's stated intentions are to analyze the relationship between cultural and political change by looking at Scandinavian artists and their works, and to provide an 'outsider's' view of the history of the area without the all too common parochialism and regional bias of local historians. He has succeeded remarkably well on both counts. There is an astonishing amount of information in Scandinavia's 200-odd pages, yet the lively style makes page after page read like a good story."--Marjatta Forward, Australian Book Review

About the Author

Tony Griffiths is an associate professor of history at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (September 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403967768
• ISBN-13: 978-1403967763
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,661,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not quite outstanding, April 25, 2006

By 

Tanja Lessner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scandinavia: At War with Trolls--A Modern History from the Napoleonic Era to the Third Millenium (Hardcover)

This is a useful, competent, and satisfying, but not quite outstanding overview of Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish history since 1800. It covers all the main events, introduces the main artistic and political personalities, and is written in a direct and easy-to-read style. I was pleased that the author is not among the pedants who insist that Finland is "Nordic but not Scandinavian." He ignores this distinction completely and gives Finland plenty of space in the book, as it deserves. I was surprised that he often seems a bit cynical about Scandinavia and sometimes presents its history in a slightly defeatist tone -- perhaps his intention is to be tongue in cheek but I wasn't always sure.

The book falls short in a few areas. It contains not a single photograph or illustration. While the author writes fluently, one wishes more work had been put into creating a truly pleasant experience for the reader: paragraphs are long, the narration sometimes loses track of what the reader knows, and the use of metaphor gets a bit stretched sometimes. There are a few editing errors (the story of Krueger matches repeats in two slightly different versions, and the Danish section of the bibliography seems to have been omitted). This is too bad because the book is basically pretty good and a little more work could have produced a book that readers would really savor.

3.0 out of 5 stars Text book style history, December 30, 2008

By 

C. Daley (Claremont, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scandinavia: At War with Trolls--A Modern History from the Napoleonic Era to the Third Millenium (Paperback)

I purchased a second hand copy of this book before a trip to Finland, Denmark, and Sweden. It is not what I would call exciting reading but it provides a good survey of Scandinavian history. The context helped me enjoy my trip more.