Finland Books

For those who love Finland and would love to know the history of this small nation which is having such an impact on the world right now, this is the book for you. You can read with a curiosity that is guaranteed to be satisfied. You'll find yourself turning pages eager to know more. But you must be prepared for lengthy spells of academic reading. It is not an easy quick "read." You must surely have a love for Finnish people and for all things Finnish and a great abiding interest in the discipline of history, especially political history. You will find out how Finland has come to be. It has excellent appendices, including a list of the nation's key dates of events in history, political statistics, an extensive guide to further reading, a comprehensive index, and good notes.

This is it, it is very illustrous book with a lot of detais, facts, names, relations and so on. Highly recommended to anyone who likes Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden, Vikings and middle ages.

The Culture Smart! series offers the traveler a manual for being less of a boor, and this volume is no exception. It is good humored and clear, with lots of useful information.

For the armchair traveler, it offers an opportunity to go deeper than the hotel and place descriptions in the usual guidebook; think of it as a guide to the (fascinating) psyche of Finland.

I'd like to have had a section on how to pronounce Finnish words and a few polite phrases, but yes, I can get a phrase book for that.

This is a beautiful book, plenty of color pictures and pleasant, slightly scholarly read.

Stig Jagerskiold does a an excellent job capturing the life of Mannerheim in an English version of his work previously written in Swedish and Finnish. From his childhood, through his service as a Russian cavalry officer, the author clearly documents his evolving sentiments toward his country and her aspirations for independence. Also, the experience he gains in leadership under fire with Russian troops foreshadows his stellar performance during the Winter and Continuation Wars. After the First World War, Mannerheim is asked to take command of the "White" forces who, with German assistance, are battling the Finnish Communists and their Russian Bolshevik allies. His attitudes toward Germany are formed here and again the author illustrates later how his impressions affected his conduct when Finland and Germany were co-belligerents. Mannerheim's command during this period is somewhat controversial: debate continues on whether he knew, much less approved, of atrocities committed by White forces. The book unfortunately doesn't investigate these allegations as deeply as it could have, and still maintained the focus of the work. However, the chapters concerned with his leadership in the Winter and Continuation Wars are well done, with examples of his command style clearly written and contrasted with those of his staff. The author rightly gives equal weight to Mannerheim's political beliefs expounded when he became President in 1944. His insight into both the psyche of the Soviets and their Western Allies was vital in concluding a surrender that left Finland unoccupied. As an introduction, or as a basis from which to conduct further research this book is a superb resource. Highly Recommended.

For my 20-day trip to Sweden and Denmark, I picked up several travel books (Lonely Planet Denmark and Scandinavia, Fodor's Scandinavia, Michelin the Green Guide Scandinavia Finland, Rick Steves' Scandinavia 2003 by Rick Steves, and Frommer's Scandinavia). Out of all of these books, the most consistent and most accurate are Michelin and Lonely Plant books.

I tried hotels recommended by Frommer and Fodor and was very disappointed (mind you, these had stars next to the write-ups). I tried one restaurant recommended by Frommer (w/ a star) and got sick afterwards. Silly me, I tired another (w/ a star) to give another chance and the meal was very mediocre. Same deal with Fodor. Where as Lonely Planet just gave facts about hotels and was very pleased with how things turned out. Hotels and meals matched the expectation that the book gave, so no unpleasant surprises.

I used the Lonely Planet Denmark book so much during the trip, I brought the Lonely Planet Scandinavia book in Denmark.... even though it was $...! It was well worth $....

As for Rick Steves, obviously, he only highlighted what he liked. There were some places that I loved in Sweden and Denmark that he suggest to skip.

For my next trip, I'm only buying Lonely Planet and Michelin books.

This guide provides good information on Denmark, Sweden and Norway. I cannot comment on Finland since it was ommited from our Scandinavian Tour. The information on historical places was more than enough and accurate. This guide pointed to us the exact location of rock carvings in the Tanum area (Sweden), something that the signs on location failed to do!. The suggested "green" routes were magnificent. Me and Jonas really felt that we did not waste our time and that every one of these routes (both in Sweden and Norway) were "golden" ones. The general maps are not detailed but those of the "green" routes are, with precise indications of views and panoramas. You don't expect accomodation listings in the "green" guides (that's what the "red" are for). We were surprised although that Michelin failed to give a star rating (we would give 3 stars) to the magnificent town of Alesund, but merely underlined it! If we did not experiment on our own we would have missed one of the most beautifull Norwegian towns in the "Jugend" style. I think that for a 1st edition, this guide is a very good effort. It can guide you to the splendours of Scandinavia and comparing it after our trip with other guides I think that I would go back with my Michelin again.

The editors do a wonderful job in presenting a selection of academic essays that deal with a wide range of social work issues. The authors tend to be both researchers and experienced social workers, and their experiences in the field provide a strong foundation for the academic theorization of the variety of topics dealt with in the book. Some of the most interesting chapters dealt with stories of homeless women and an examination of social offices accompanied by photographic images. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the specificities of Finnish social work and social work issus in general.

Aino Halinen's doctoral disseration from the Turku School of Economics, Finland, has now also been published by Routledge. The study is a pioneering piece of work on the development of buyer-seller relationships in professional services, mainly building on the theoretical work by the IMP group interaction/network studies. The study also interestingly reflects the recent "relational turn" in marketing research in general. The longitudinal case study described and analysed in the book also gives the reader a good example of how an interpretative research method can provide thorough theoretical insights and meaningful managerial implications. The book can be characterized as "obligatory" readings for any M.Sc. or doctoral student in marketing interested in interorganizational relationships and networks.

Overall a good book for Scandinavian travel. The things I liked about the book include the general information about each country, it was very helpful during a recent trip to Norway and Denmark. The hotel and restaurant information was useful and right on. It is a good guide to use if you want to see the highlights of each country, but perhaps lacks in-depth information about off the beaten path.

A couple of things that are lacking in the book include web site and email addresses for hotels, restaurants and museums. Also, there is not a lot of information in the book about train or boat travel in Scandinavia.

Even though this book was released in 2000, some of the times museums were open differed from the guide, so confirm with the museum before exploring.

If you are just going to one country, I would recommend purchasing a specific book on that country. Overall, I was pleased with my purchase and it served me well while in Scandinavia.