Customer Reviews

The Swedish Secret: What the United States Can Learn from Sweden’s Story

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3 star:		(4)
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I have been wanting to read a book like this for a long time so that I could understand why my family in Sweden were content and happy with living in what Americans call a socialist country. After reading this book things have become very clear to me. As an American we see where are values are and compare them to Sweden. We seem to want everything of money value but do not want to pay for it. Sweden seems to know what is valuable ( family-friends-land-education-health-no unnecessary wars-value of women in politics-and more fairly run elections) and are willing to pay higher taxes so that everyone is equal and treated that way. I wish everyone would read this book and realize as much as we hate high taxes, nothing comes free and how important it is to help everyone have a fair and decent life.

Overall, this is a decent book. Gives a good basic overview of American & Swedish history, along with some good comparisons. If your new to Swedish history/politics &/or American history/politics, & want to learn more, then this would be a great starter book.

If your like me, and are familiar with the Swedish system (been there 3 times) & the American system (history, politics, etc.), then you may find this book somewhat redundant. Mostly covers the basics. The main complaint I have is that its too short (180pg.) & mostly concentrates on American history, while being brief on the Swedish parts (and dosn't get into heavy comparison, or "what we can learn" mode till the last 50 pages). I feel for an American audience, it should be the other way around.

~Hej dĺ

The book was something of a disappointment. It focused far more on an overview of American History (particularly in the 20th century) than anything else. Far more about what is wrong with the USA, and not much about what is right about Sweden. If the reader wants to learn about Sweden, the reader would be far better off with a good book of Swedish history. I really did not learn anything that I didn't already know.

I had high expectations when I first ordered this book; but was disappointed with the lack of documentation on the stats the author mentions. so it reads more like a college lecture and it's up to the reader to check for themselves to see if they are accurate.

Tho informative, I found myself skipping chapters that dealt with American history; so it is my opinion that the author, to broaden the appeal wrote those chapters for the Swedish readers.

This book was a mis-print by the publisher! The book reads from back to front: the pages are in reverse order! I've never seen this happen to a book. Of course you wouldn't buy a book like this from a book store, becaue you'd see it when you leafed through it. But buying it on-line there's no way to know. I should have returned it right away, but I didn't actually look at it for a few weeks after it came. Otherwise it's OK; nothing missing or out of order (except reverse order). It took some time to get used to turning the page like I was going back a page.

As far as the content, it was OK. It's not a scolarly work, it's more of an extended opinion. The author has some good knowledge and has done some research, but it takes a decidedly liberal stance. What makes it even more interesting is that I just finished reading a similar book but of the exact oposite opinion. The book (the Swedish Secret) was written by an American of Swedish descent who has traveled to Sweden many times and thinks the cradle-to-grave welfare system in Sweden is superior. The other book I just finished (What Happened To Sweden? While America Became the Only Superpower) was written by a Swede who has lived in America for many years and thinks Sweden is in decline because of the cradle-to-grave welfare system, as well as their foreign policy and other things; he thinks America is great! You kind of have to read both to get a balanced opinion, although now I'm not sure; can there be balance, some middle ground? Is Sweden either all bad or all good?

This book takes the stance that Sweden is very very good. The book itself is OK.