Sweden Books

I was loaned this book by a friend of mine who is German. She was given this book by her mother and read it when she was a child in Germany. Years later she found it in a used book sale here in the states (her current residence) and fell in love with it again. She lent me this book, and I have to say it was wonderful. I learned so much reading this book everything from Napoleonic history to early French fashion. Desiree is a delightful character and her life is fascinating. I recommend this book for anyone. It is a light easy read. I was sad when I finished it because I wanted the story to continue.

"Desiree" is the (mostly) true story of Desiree Clary, silk-merchant's daughter of Marseilles, who becomes involved with the Bonapartes, rises with them to the heights of power, survives Napoleon's downfall and ultimately becomes Queen Desideria of Sweden, the first Bernadotte Queen. Desiree herself tells her story in diary form, although it isn't as annoying as the diary form usually is, and the reader experiences events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as Desiree did--as a series of domestic events. That these events occur in royal households and that Desiree is a major player in them could be accidental, but one quickly realizes that Desiree is a remarkable woman and these are no accidents.

The tone is intimate, and one feels as though Desiree is confiding in the reader as a friend. Annemarie Selinko is a virtuoso; even in translation not one word of this amazing story rings false. You will find yourself thinking of Desiree long after the end of the book. I read this first at sixteen, and found the historical information invaluable in a college history course (not the reason to read it, but it doesn't hurt).

I've since read the Josephine B. books, and a wonderful novel based on the life of Josephine Bonaparte called "The Emperor's Lady" by F. W. Kenyon (available used on Amazon), which I also heartily recommend, but "Desiree" is the platinum standard by which to judge historical novels/fictionalized biographies.

It is simply wonderful.

I love this book (as well as the movie to this book) and not all of the book is fiction! There was a woman named Desiree Clary she was the first love/fiance of Napoleon Bonaparte. She married one of his marshals, Jean-Baptise Bernadotte whom was elected to become King of Sweden in the early ninteenth century. Desiree's and Jean-Baptise's descandents are still on the throne of Sweden to this day.

I would also like to add that the author has done a brillent job in writing this book! She wrote the book so well, that it's diffucult to distinguish the line between fact and fiction in this book!

Desiree, the fictionalized true story of woman from a small French town who was supposedly Napoleon's first love and then later became a queen, is a great book to share with your teenage daughter.

My mother had me read this book when I was about 15 or 16 years old. The first few pages completely grabbed me and could hardly put the book down! Once I had finished, my mother and I looked at the encyclopedia together to see the actual photographs of Desiree, Jean-Baptiste, Julie, Napoleon, Joseph and Josephine. It was really great to *see* the people I had just read about. I have always remembered how *cool* it was for my mother and I to share this book and the real history behind it.

By the way, I own my mother's copy of the book (which is falling into pieces now), and a copy that I picked up at a library book sale. I have read this book at least every other year for the past 30 years. It is a wonderful read each and every time!

I hope you and your daughters enjoy this as much as my mother and I did!

I'm a certified anglophile, when it comes to history. This is probably because I am one-half Angelo Celtic and so the history I read about when I read about England, Scotland and Ireland, is in some sense my own. It is a basic human urge to understand where we come from after all. Anyway, this is my way of saying I don't "get" France. I can't speak French (and so in books when there's some French thrown in I'm just lost) and I don't know anything about French history (except a little where it bumps up with England.) For most of the historical fiction I read about France, which has events that occurred so long ago it doesn't seem to matter that I have no knowledge, this doesn't effect my enjoyment of the book. But when we get into the French revolution and the whole Napoleon thing it seems I have to know something to get the book. Happily, this book explains everything so well that I can report if you know nothing about the after events of the French revolution (like me) you will not only be able to enjoy the book but you will actually learn things!

This is a fake diary kept for about forty years by (real person) Eugenie Desiree Clary, one time fiancée of Napoleon and later Queen of Sweden and Norway (obviously many events happen between the two titles.) I know nothing about the real historical person of Desiree, but the character is an amazing women. Smart, resourceful, bold, courageous, romantic, sweet, funny...kind of a perfect main character. She meets Napoleon's older brother Joseph when getting her older brother out of jail and invites him to dinner to meet her older unmarried sister Julie. Joseph brings Napoleon along with him and soon because of the girls' large dowries and the impoverished state of the Bonaparte's, Julie and Joseph are married and Desiree and Napoleon are engaged.

But we all know that Napoleon marries Josephine. So the majority of the book (told by Desiree remember) revolves around Desiree's own love story with a General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (a great character and lovely romance) and of course what happened in France under Napoleon. Like I said this book is an education about what happened to change a republic into an empire (perhaps we could be looking for parallels to today's United States?)

Desiree's life is fascinating but what also makes this book interesting is the portrait painted of Napoleon-a very different one from other view points about him (say as in "The Josephine Bonaparte collection" by Sandra Gulland which presents him as...well as a very different kind of man. Josephine also) The Napoleon of this book is selfish, arrogant and so conceited and entitled he's unbearable (as Desiree says at one point, "can you believe I was going to marry him?") I suppose the view presented in this book is more in tune with the traditional historical view of Napoleon (little-man syndrome and all) but then I don't know much about it.

I want to be clear on the fact that the romance in this novel is NOT between Desiree and Napoleon but between Desiree and her husband Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. In fact once you past page 100 it's pretty obvious that the only emotion Desiree feels towards Napoleon is some nostalgia and contempt and fear.

Anyway, this is a great book. It has engaging characters, history that's real and understandable (even by one with no knowledge such as me) and an enchanting narrator who has an inspiring sense morality, especially about government. My only complaints are that sometimes the diary entries are very far apart chronologically and there is little explanation of what happened in between the dates and so often times I had to re-read entries a couple time to get a sense of continuity. A history book may have been helpful here but I eventually figured out what was happening/had happened in between the entries. Also there are so many characters, often with similar names that a character index really would have been helpful.

Other than that this book is pretty perfect. It's a real treasure and I heartily thank the kind person who recommended it to me as one of the best of the historical fiction genre.

Five stars.

I love Absolut ad's and have always wanted to get one. They are expensive new , so I got an used copy from an amazon seller. It came quickly and I flipped through the book for about 20 min when it arrived 2 days later. I love all the ads and they are all so clever. I might not get some of the modern art ones, but I love the city ones in particular. Anyway, I got this book for my new house and new coffee table book, I think it is one of the best hardcover coffee table book (marketing story book) ever.

Compulsory addition to the coffee table library. An excellent example of a clever, consistent, cutting edge branding campaign helping to position a generic product at the top of consumer mind. Absolut genius.

If you like the Absolut ads, this is a good book for you. It's what you'd expect - big pictures of the Absolut ads with explanations from the ad agency guys who made it happen. A fun coffeetable book.

Absolut is one of the best selling vodkas in the world and the advertsing for it is second to none. In this fabulous book were are told the inside story behind the marketing and selling of this tasty treat. The paper is first grade and the pictures are outstanding to say the least. Absolut original with a bottle looking like a Roman ruin is probably my favorite one but there are so many nice advertising ideas that have become stupendous posters. Absolute Enivironment is also a nice one. This is a good coffee table book and a nice gift for the person that likes vodka and to read.

This is a wonderful, informative, and beautiful book.
This book is about the Absolut Vodka advertising campaign. How it began, and what it is about. There are many beautiful, and breath taking images which makes you see the entire light of the campaign which looks so simple from the outside. Now, you get the inside looks and it isn't simple at all but an amazing experience.
WOW!!

This well-written novel, though dated, tells the story of three young pastors coming to grips with how ministry works - and doesn't work. Highly Recommended.

During the years of its reign as the Established Church of Sweden, the Evangelical Lutheran Church grew increasingly abusive, unresponsive, liberal, and divorced from the lives of the common Swedish peasants. But, during the 18th century, the Pietism movement came to Sweden, calling people to individual piety and personal holiness. The Church of Sweden reacted vigorously against the movement, resulting in split congregations, persecution, emigration, and, finally, reform.

In this wonderful book, Swedish Lutheran Bishop and author, Bo Herald Giertz (1905-98), collects three stories (really novellas) that each tells the story of a pastor, learning to properly serve God and his fellow men. They are stories of learning God's holiness, but also His love and grace.

Overall, I found this to be a powerful and extremely moving read. The power of the stories keeps you reading, wishing you could be in the very churches that you read about. Now, the author was an unabashed advocate of the Lutheran Church, and the book contains a vigorous defense of the Lutheran Church's liturgy and theology. But, it is such a powerful look at serving God and serving man that I think it is a book that Christians of all sects should read.

This is a powerful book, one that is certainly a classic of Lutheran literature, and should be considered a classic of Christian literature for all believers. I give this book my highest recommendations!

This is an excellent book and much needed for evangelicals in our day. Although this is laden with some Lutheran thought that I theologically disagree with (being a Reformed Baptist), so that a small amount of discernment is required, from my point of view, the thrust of the book is about Christ alone as the sole foundation of our hope and the distinction between Law and Gospel. For one who generally does not read novels, this book is welcome both for these theological reasons and for the interest in the stories themselves. There is much comfort in this book for wounded souls and much to awaken the seasoned believer to about the nature of grace in comparison to our lowly condition.

This book was commended by a good friend who is also I believe one of the few remaining orthodox pastors in his church body. The treatment it provides of issues such as "simul sanctus et peccator" (at the same time saint and sinner), the long-ignored Office of the Keys ("Whatever sins you bind on earth will be bound in heaven"), Christ Only, the individual's mode of "participation" in justification, and a host of other doctrinal issues was tremendously refreshing. The Hammer is relentless, and the Gospel is sweet. The orthodox views of Christ, of Scripture, of Salvation, of Sanctification, and of Christian life are all made new as the morning. I loved it!

Bo Giertz' The Hammer of God should be read by anyone entering the pastorate. The book is divided into three novellas, each set in a different era in a particular area of Sweden. Each novella basically follows the same story: A nominally Christian pastor recently graduates from a modernist university and gets assigned, against his desires, to a country parish. He soon undergoes a kind of conversion experience as he is faced with the realities of parish life, especially with the existential questions of his parishoners, and finds that despite all his formal training, his faith is only nominal at best and he really doesn't know anything about God, until a simple parishoner witnesses the truth of the gospel to him. Newly converted and aware of his own sins, the preacher then begins to passionately preach the law of God bringing some revival to their churches, but as those revivals petter off, he is surprised to find that he is only half-converted, because he must also learn about the doctrine of justication by faith alone, which is the necessary complement to the law, and the heart of the gospel. At the same time, he discovers the richness of Lutheran orthodoxy over and against other modernist, pietistic and anabaptist movements happening around the parish.

Over all, I thought this was a really good book, and I would recommend it to anyone, even to those who are not Lutheran (I'm still a Baptist). Unfortunately, this particular edition is riddled with typos, more than I've seen in any book by a major publisher. So I can only give it 4 stars, rather than 5.

So please, please, please, find a publisher, who will make it possible to all english speaking children in this world.

My favorite book since early childhood, I have read and reread this novel and all of its subsequent parts too many times to count. This is a book for kids by arguably the most talented kids' writer that's ever lived. Lindgren remembered what it was like to be a child when she wrote, and it's obvious. Reading her writings is effortless and all-encompassing. I gladly drown in Karlsson On The Roof again and again. This novel is not nearly as well-known here as it is in Europe, and what a shame. American kids have been missing out for decades.

One of the best children's books in the world, full of great humour, which describes the importance of friendship. A must read for any child. Such a shame it is banned in the US, the people who banned Karlsson do not know what their children are missing!

I was quite suprised by dullness of translation by Marianne Turner.
Dialogs could nave been thought through better. The key phrase, translated as "It is a small matter" - spoils everything. I would translate it somewhere along the lines of ..Oh, It's nothing! another example - a man in his prime..., etc.

All three Karlsson books by Astrid Lindgren are children classics, "cult" books. I can't believe you can only find them in English from used book sellers for $72, $249 and other ridiculous prices.

I wonder if those children books publishers ever look at out-of-print books prices. Don't those prices give you some clue on what is in demand?

I mean, really, guys - you have lots of immigrants from other countries, especially from China, Japan, Russia, Poland, other European countries, who love and miss that book and wish to buy them now for their own kids. Just estimate, how big is this market, please.

I am sure people who were born here would appreciate them too if they were more accessible.

You just can't go wrong with publishing the world's most brilliant, famous children classics. Please reprint three Karlson books. And, maybe, you can get a new, better translation too, because the existing one is rather dull, as people who read it told me.

Karlsson books/character in my opinion are/is the main books/character you recognize Astrid Lidgren by. All others like Pippi longstocking, Ronie, Emil, etc. come after it. While you can find those other books easily in stores and on Amazon, the best one sadly became some kind of rarity.

These books are in the same league with Winni the Pooh, Mary Poppins, Wizard of Oz. They are must have books.

I really wanted to buy them for my nieces as a gift, but I guess I should do with Moomin-troll series instead - another beautiful children world classics underestimated in USA. I'd better buy them soon, or they might became a rarity with astronomical prices.

My wife remembers this book from her childhood and is one of her favorites. It is one of those timeless books that thrills all children. We read it to our grand kids and they love it. This same story could be in any country. Kids are the same everywhere.

This is a book most kids and adults can realate to.Its a book about friendship and celebration.(Such a wonderful read with great illustrations) I recommend this book for ages 8 and up because of challanging vocab.But a great read aloud for all ages!

I'm an American mother living in Germany. I grew up with Pippi Longstockings - but never had much exposure to the other wonderful stories. Though the English title is a little silly, this book is so wonderful...a nostalgic look of childhood in truly the most innocent of days - it is so well liked in Germany - and is on just about every child's shelf here in Germany with other stories from Astrid Lindgren. I have reccommended it often to my friends in the states and it has been well received. This year (2007) we celebrated her 100th birthday with no small oversight - she is the best loved children's author of all time in this part of the world. I can only hope that some publisher rekindle Lindgren's charm and make the children of the South, North and Middle Farms along with Michel - Lola - Madita - Kalle and Karlsson more accessible in America.

I bought the book because of the Author - I grew up on her books and my girls listen to each chapter with great pleasure

My own son is nearly out of high school and will no longer sit on my lap to let me read to him. Imagine! The rascal! But I have two boys, children of my cousin, and a niece, who are beginning to appreciate my reading talents. Their mothers have not been slow to recognize my utility on that front.
Astrid Lindgren was famous in America, years ago, for her Pippi Longstocking books. I think those are still common in bookstores. As an ex-boy reading to a boy, I enjoyed Lindgren's Rasmus books much more, and I loved the "Noisy Village" series. Lindgren's children's books are deliciously old-fashioned and rustic. Rasmus is the Huckleberry Finn of Sweden, and the five children of Noisy Village might remind English readers of Tom Sawyer and Little Women melded together. I read all these books in Swedish, and I'm just becoming acquainted with them in English for my young relatives. The translation is good - not quite as idiomatically piquant as the original, but attractively brash and blunt. Boys will enjoy the stories as much as girls. The target age for hearing these stories is about four to six, and quick-to-read children will be able to handle them at seven.
Life in a village in oldtime Sweden was little different from life in rural areas of the Upper Midwest before TV. Parents also may feel the pull of that good-natured, fundamentally decent community. There are no tickets to the past, however, except in books.

This one is a keeper. I bought it after living in Sweden for a bit over 4½ years. There were things about living in Sweden that I was having trouble appreciating; sometimes there was an underlying "cultural current" that wouldn't decode for me. After the first read, Robinowitz & Carr's book gave me some more pieces to the puzzle I was holding. Subsequent readings have added more pieces.

I strongly recommend purchase of your own copy of this book for reference and note-taking. Any culture is a set of unwritten rules. The authors have done an excellent job of capturing much of that which is unwritten. The book starts with a brief history of Sweden - which helps to give a perspective on modern Swedes and Swedish culture. In following chapters they go on to give a good overview of modern Sweden and some of the more visible aspects of Swedish culture. A part about the Swedish flag is typical of the kind of information they give (Swedes seem to use their flag to declare their Swedish identity in contrast, Americans might be said to give the US flag a loyalty). The chapter on a cultural value/belief/behavior called "Jantelagen" was particularly valuable as it helped me to better understand behaviors and to "release the right responses" during the course of daily living activities (Edward T. Hall writes about releasing the right responses in "Understanding Cultural Differences").

Other chapters give clear and easy to read descriptions of a number of important social and business values, beliefs and behaviors. I figure that the amount I spent on this book is nothing in comparison to the value it has returned. Time invested in reading has saved me time later as I more quickly understood unspoken parts of "messages". If you're going to have more than a superficial, touristy kind of contact with Swedes - in Sweden or anywhere else in the world - you'll likely be glad for the advice this book offers.

Lagom bok. Writing a book is easy. Getting it "just right" is the hard part. Lagom, as the authors of Modern-Day Vikings tell us is the Swedish delight of getting things in the right proportion, including what is fitting and appropriate, no more, no less, and, in this case, writing a bok about one's people without being either overbearing or falsely modest.

Not too many of us, I suspect, have learned Swedish history other than as an appendix to what other great powers were about in times past. So the authors have been kind enough to sketch on the canvas of a single chapter the flow of events that take us from prehistory through Viking times to the unique, modern day Swedish model of society.

History helps us understand culture and behavior and even allows us to see what triggers the stereotypes we acquire about others. "Sex, suicide, socialism and spirits," as the authors point out, are the false headlines most of us have absorbed about Swedes because we had so little familiarity with the real article. A Swedish friend of mine in her 50's complains that living in France she is still looked on as a svenska flicka ("loose Swedish girl") by some-not by me, of course. Too many Bergman films in my youth have left me still surprised to find so many cheery Swedes.

We learn how Modern Day Vikings value themselves and their history. Swedes appreciate modesty and above all, equality to a fault. They have wholesome homegrown virtues to bring to the marketplace of cultures, and, like all peoples in the great modern global exchange, these are being weighed and measured by the world of competition and the challenge of sustainability. In particular the Swedish smörgasbord of values is being rearranged by a new generation who are leading their country and the world in world-class digital entrepreneurship.

As for the welfare state, that has brought so many to exclaim, "It would never work here," they are probably right. There is a time and place for everything and the time and place for this unique social triumph was Sweden in the middle 1900's. The challenges of immigration and multiculturalism are taxing this system and calling for a fresh wave of creativity in Swedish politics. There are no easy solutions, but one suspects that the Swedish combination of fairness and self-sufficiency will express themselves in fresh socially responsible solutions.

Readers who want to get to the do's and don't's of living and working with Swedes will be amply rewarded in the second half of the book, particularly if they are patient with the first half. They will look at Swedish communication styles manners and business behaviors with far more insight having delved into the authors' careful descriptions and illustrations of Swedish values in action, which like the nordic seasons have both bright and equally dark sides. Going to work or going to dinner, there is no shortage of solid prescription and attention to detail. Robinowitz and Carr are careful to simplify what can be simplified, identify rules where they exist, and to point out, that, as in any culture, taking a good look at what the other guests are doing can help you figure out whether to take your shoes off or not.

Finally, you don't have to be on your way to Sweden to have an excuse to read this book. Robinowitz and Carr, whose rich experience of Swedish culture comes from both living inside of it and seeing it at a distanc have made Modern Day Vikings a good book to curl up with in any season.

I have been married to a Swede for 25 Years and have been regularly visiting her friends and family for that time. This book offers a nonjudgemental evaluation of why Swedes are the way they are and, of course, why they are not like us. I read this book just before a business meeting and enjoyed observing the differences in culture during the meeting. I plan to read this on the plane every time I go. It is too easy to mistake their fluent English for cultural similarity.

I am a Swedish citizen who has lived in the US for almost 20 years. I go home to Sweden regularly and feel that I am still Swedish. This book was most enjoyable to me as I recognized many "features" of the Swede. I laughed out loud many times. My husband, who is American, knows Swedish and has also lived in Sweden. He enjoyed the book too and we found ourselves reading parts of chapter out loud to each other. One of my supervisors has Swedish ancestry and I bought the book for him. He has a slightly different take on the book. He likes it but looks at it from a more serious and investigative perspective. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how people in the world look at the world.

I picked this book up when I started dating a Swede and was pleasently surprised (both by the book and the girl!). Since Swedes generally speak very good english it's often easy to forget that they do have differnt traditions and culture. The book is a great introduction to some of those differences and leads to a lot of fun conversations.

I skipped the chapter on business dealings but the rest of the book was well worth the price.

This book was super amazingly crazy popular in Sweden. It was widely adored, and also made into a film. The reviews of the English translation have also been glowing, and words like "luminous" were thrown around as though they cost absolutely nothing instead of 50 cents.

I feel as though I must have missed something BIG. After I looked at the reviews (I generally don't look at 'em until after I'm done with a book) I found myself paging back through the book, looking for what everybody found so wildly new and exciting.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate the book. I thought that it was a nice little coming of age story, made interesting by the theme of the impact that popular music can have in the midst of isolation. The fact that it is set in Norrbotten made it particularly interesting for me. (I actually would really like to visit Haparanda sometime, but that's a different story.)

No, my issue is that I am not really sure why there is so much to love about it. I'm not sure if it is the translation or the writing, but I find the prose kind of clunky in places-- not luminous, whatever that means. It has its moments where it gathers itself to take flight, and almost succeeds. But then I found it sank back down into more predictable sociology of the far north-- saunas and schnapps and what not.

Anyhow, I would recommend the novel, but with reservations. It was a quick smooth read, and interesting enough. Particularly if you have an interest in Swedes or Sweden, it is worth the time to read.

This novel was recommended to me by fiddler Colm O'Riain and poet Pireeni Sundaralingam, both much more cosmopolitan than I. They keep in better touch with great European writing. It's as wonderful as they said it would be, and hard to describe because Vittula is truly another world, a least as Niemi portrays it. Picture kids at the far end of nowhere trying to make out the Beatles on short wave radio and practicing on broomstick guitars. Picture winter-goofy Scandinavian men with too much to drink, too long in the sweathouse, and too little to shoot at--in a funny/weird sort of way! Really, this book will take you to place you'll remember more vividly and strangely fondly than most of the places you've actually been. Take Me With You When You GoNutty to Meet You! Dr. Peanut Book #1

Growing up anyplace isn't smooth, it isn't describable exactly. If you search your memories later, trying to ask why you did something, you can't, for the life of you, remember why. You just did it. Things happened. You tried to get to China. You mimicked the rock stars when you thought you were alone. You might even have licked cold locks---if you grew up in northern climes--- and got your tongue stuck. You were never the hero of your own legend. Well, folks, this novel captures that confusion perfectly. I've never set foot in Sweden, let alone in its far north by the Finnish border, where all the growing up takes place. But now I feel I know what it was like. Niemi's description, magical realism and all, gives you such joy, such interest, that I assure you, you will read POPULAR MUSIC IN VITTULA as quickly as you can. I haven't laughed out loud over a book so much for years. Hey, I even laughed in the Boston subway like some kind of weird, public transport cackler. But I didn't care. Kids fight in the woods with B-B guns, try to start rock bands to impress girls, experiment with sex and alcohol, get up the teacher's nose, visit scary old healers, watch the grownups pass out at huge drinkups, and dream of fast cars. In the very end, things turn out quite differently, but that's really familiar too. Most of the themes are hardly unique to the area, but it's Niemi's genius that he makes you feel it exotic and familiar at the same time. It's contemporary writing at its best and I think all readers in English owe a vote of thanks to the translator too.

You've got to have a strong stomach for a couple sections, say for example, if large piles of dead mice are not your forte. If you have ever seen Kaurismaki films like "Leningrad Cowboys Go America" or "The Man without a Past", you will recognize the same deadpan Finnish humor in Niemi's novel, whose characters are mainly from the Finnish minority in Sweden's rural north. I could recount a scene or two for the surfing reader, try to "deconstruct" whatever, go literary if I could, but your best bet would be to read the book. You will not regret it.

This is one of those gems that would never have been published in the US unless it came in with some momentum and buzz from afar. It describes adolesence, dipping deeply into the well, stringing together a series of vignettes that are well tied together. I'm a 54-year old businessman, parts of the book were agonizing and I actually found myself squinting through my fingers in raw embarassment. The wedding chapter was tremendous.
jk

If you're looking for a funny and tender coming-of-age story set above the Arctic Circle, this is the book for you! It's set in Pajala, a small town in the remote Tornedalen region of Sweden, far north and near the Finnish border. The semi-autobiographical story is told through a series of twenty self-contained short stories that take Matti roughly from age 5-15 or so from the mid-'60s to mid-'70s. One is immediately given a taste of the book's style in the prologue, in which the adult Matti manages to freeze his tongue to a metal plaque atop a Nepalese mountain. He only manages to free himself (and live) by using his urine to break the bond, which then launches him into the story of his youth. The broad outlines of his experiences are similar to those of any other boy growing up in a remote place forty years ago. Life was boring and filled with hard work, some things were manly (hunting, work, fighting, hockey, eating, drinking, machines), and everything else is "women's work." If you're not good at manly things, well... at a minimum you won't fit in very well.

Of course, Matti is a little outside the mainstream, but manages to make his way with best friend Niila by his side. Where the book shines is in the the specifics of his childhood, in which wacky antics shine with humor and pathos, and magic realism rears its head every now and then. Some of the events covered include: discovering rock and roll music via the Beatles, a summer job as a mouse hunter, a raucous arm wrestling contest, an equally grueling sauna endurance contest, a sermon in Esperanto, a mind-boggling teenage drinking contest, tall tales of family prowess, a will reading degenerating into a brawl, starting a band with a cardboard guitar, the vagaries of a fundamentalist Christian sect (Laestadianism), first sexual encounters, and a BB-gun war. And let's not forget the transsexual hermit magician... All these individual parts are quite entertaining, even if they never quite add up to a complete hole. It's an amusing, and sometimes very funny look at growing up rural which would probably resonate much more with other remote cold climate dwellers than the average reader. A welcome oddball addition to the coming-of-age genre.

Note: The book was a runaway bestseller in Sweden, selling one copy for every twelve Swedes! Naturally, the book has been adapted as a film--which was co-written and directed by an Iranian who immigrated to Sweden as a teenager!

Jean-Marie Potiez is, of course, from France. I knew him through ABBA fan clubs some years ago. He gives a good account of the ABBA phenomenon. Agnetha was born in Jonkoping, Sweden on April 5, 1950. Her father staged amateur reviews in the town, and Agnetha began singing in them at an early age. When she was 15, she left school to take a job as a telephone operator with a car firm. She was singing with a group called Bernt Enghardts. She left them when her composition, "Jag Var Sa Kar (I Was So In Love)" became a hit on the Swedish charts. Agnetha moved to Stockholm and recorded her first album.

Agnetha composed music. She did nine solo albums between 1968 and 1988. She recorded in Swedish, German, English, French and Spanish. Her label in the early days was Cupol. She went on to form Agnetha Faltskog Productions with Staffan Linde as her manager.

Benny Andersson is the only one of the four born in Stockholm, Benny came from a family of accordion players. It was natural for him to teach himself piano. From 1964 to 1969, his Hep Stars were Sweden's biggest group. They had a rougher image than Bjorn's Hootenanny Singers. When their career ended in bankruptcy, Benny came away with the idea that there would have to be greater economy in the future. It gave him incentive to become co-owner of Polar Music with Bjorn and Stig Anderson.

Bjorn Ulvaeus came from Gothenburg, Sweden's western port and second largest city, where he was born in 1945.

Bjorn was still in school when he formed the West Bay Singers, a folk group. Stig Anderson suggested the name, Hootenanny Singers. Stig was great at naming groups.

Bjorn is known for his business sense and studied corporate law for a term at the University of Stockholm. He meant to be a civil engineer. He was drafted into the Swedish military for the mandatory 10 months, a handy experience if you are going to write songs like Fernando.

Frida Lyngstad was raised by her grandmother in Eskilstuna. Her mother had died at age 21, and it was felt that little Frida would fare better in Sweden since her father had been part of the occupying army.

Frida started singing professionally when she was 13. She sang with a big band, and that is how she met her first husband, Ragnar Fredriksson. He played trombone. Frida had two children by him: a son, Hans, and a daughter, Lotta.

If you are an ABBA fan, then you will love this book. The book takes you into the lives for 4 very special musicans.

Abba remain hugely popular in Britain and many other countries more than twenty years after they disbanded. This book is not an in-depth study of the different personalities and their difficulties, but it gives plenty of information about the members of Abba and their manager, including their lives before and after Abba. And (at least in my hardcover edition) there are pictures - plenty of them.

Regarding the four members of Abba, three of them (Benny, Bjorn and Agnetha) were born and raised in Sweden, all apparently having fairly normal childhoods, only their musical talent setting them apart from others. All three became hugely successful in the Swedish pop charts, Agnetha as a solo singer, Benny and Bjorn as members of separate groups.

The odd one out was Anni-Frid, better known as Frida. She was born in Norway as the illegitimate child of a German father and Norwegian mother. Frida was mainly raised by her grandmother, who took her to Sweden, where her mother joined them but died of illness a few months later, aged just 21. Frida also found it much harder than the others to achieve success in music, but she did eventually have some big Swedish hits of her own.

The author presents the main years (1969 to 1982) on a year-by-year basis, explaining the different events that occurred in each year - records, tours, TV, their personal lives - in a semi-diary format.

As far as the music is concerned, the story is quite complicated and not always easy to follow, but that is no fault of the author. Before they became Abba, they were four separate acts, each with their own careers and signed to different record companies. Once they came together as Abba, different things were happening in Japan, Australia, Germany, Sweden and elsewhere with different records - even before 1974. That was the year that Abba won Eurovision and charted for the first time in Britain and America.

There have been many books on Abba and will surely be many more. Despite being a huge Abba fan, this is the first I've read. If you're only going to have one book on Abba, it might as well be this one.

Did you ever come across a favourite song and say, "I wonder whatever happened to....? Abba took the world by storm back in the 60's when a quarter bought you an afternoon matinee at the movies, and minimum wage in my home town was $1.00 per hour. If you earned $1.25 or more, you had it made!

Abba possessed a unique blend of charisma, talent, and originality. Who can forget the sentimental lyrics of ,"I Had A Dream", the gentle flow of "The Rivers of Babylon", the melancholy strains of "Fernando" or the upbeat dance-hit, "Dancing Queen"? The list of hits went on and on.

What I particularly liked about this book was the numerous photographs all depicting Abba at their finest. Many photographs are ones not often, if ever, published before, at least not on this continent. In addition, the book reveals a lot of factual, personal information about the individuals themselves. The road to fame and fortune is not an easy one as readers will discover through the pages of this book. Some facts have been printed before, but other aspects of their career are presented here in a more complete, in-depth light. Fans of Abba, will no longer need to wonder, "what ever happened to..." because the epilogue tells you just that. Of all the books on the group, this is one of the best in print.

Probably the best book you can get, if you want an ABBA photo book. In this case even better than "From ABBA To Mammma Mia", since there is pictures from a broader period . It is written in cronologic date-by-date, where each year, as well as "The Movie" and the concert tours got its own chapter. You don't have to be an ABBA fan to enjoy this book, everyone can enjoy this trip in text and pictures through the fantastic story of ABBA.

Fascinating book, very worthwhile. Tons of well organized and documented information. Wonderful and thorough reference.

I've made armor using the diagrams of existing armor types from this book. I didn't much care for some of the strapping arrangements described, so I designed my own. (Hey, this is the armor the regular fighters left behind - Wisby was defended by the teens and the oldsters to judge from the age of the bodies. This suggests the men of prime fighting-age were elsewhere, with their primary armor.) It worked, well, and protected me in combat. And the illustrations and text were clear, clear, clear.

This book has a very special meaning to me since I'm from the town of Wisby(nowdays spelled Visby). Born and raised on the island Gotland and lived most of my life thete. I'v built several of these coats of armour and so far everyone I've tried on have been of satisfatcion. The book is so far the best resource book I've ever found. I have for a long time tried to find the first edition, but IF you can find it somewhere it's incredibly expensive. So jus imagine my joy when I saw there was a reissue! And very soon I'm going to be proud owner of this masterpiece...
The book is really easy to use and have exceptional drawings and scetches. Transforming the scale of the objects in the book to original size is really easy and there's a lot of information i general. At last a recommendation for all you SCA-fighters out there. Try out armour no.6 and no.9 because they give very good protection and are comfortable to wear.

This book has a very special meaning to me since I'm from the town of Wisby(nowdays spelled Visby). Born and raised on the island Gotland and lived most of my life thete. I'v built several of these coats of armour and so far everyone I've tried on have been of satisfatcion. The book is so far the best resource book I've ever found. I have for a long time tried to find the first edition, but IF you can find it somewhere it's incredibly expensive. So jus imagine my joy when I saw there was a reissue! And very soon I'm going to be proud owner of this masterpiece...
The book is really easy to use and have exceptional drawings and scetches. Transforming the scale of the objects in the book to original size is really easy and there's a lot of information i general. At last a recommendation for all you SCA-fighters out there. Try out armour no.6 and no.9 because they give very good protection and are comfortable to wear.

This book contains a wealth of knowledge about medieval armour and the effects of weapons. The pictures are fantastic, skeletons buried in their armour, rarely does one get to see how armour was actually worn. The breakdowns and detail of actual armour construction is immaculate and enables any competant armourer to reproduce the examples shown. The detail from an archeologist's point of view was a little too in depth for my interest but if you are that way inclined then great. Only issue I have is the "analysis" of some of the wounds seen, Mr. Thordeman seems to imply that this battle was unusual in some way, that the combatants fought with unusual fury. He sites one incident of one combatant having both legs severed by a single blow as an indication of some great fury and intensity. I only disagree as there are very few examples of medieval battle wound pathology to compare the Wisby corpses. It seems that the author is looking at the battle from too detached a viewpoint, forgetting that killing was the purpose of the people who showed up to battle that day. This is a small detail but supposition as to the mental states of combatants, by someone who has no first hand experience of battle is unproductive. Otherwise a great book.

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3A80YKC8W7UEE New Chronology is a theory validated by astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient manuscripts that asserts: that Antiquity and Dark Ages are phantoms invented in the 16th 18th centuries. Human civilization is barely 1000 years old!

New Chronology complies with the most rigid scientific standards:

- It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know;
- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion;
- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically;

New Chronology goes by the following basic axioms:
- Chronology is the basis of history;
- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;
- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history are fantasy and hoax;
- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;
- The closer in time is a given manuscript to the events described the less distortions it contains;
- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Fomenko asserts: There was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by over two centuries of yoke and slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a trilingual state with Arabic and Turkic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that official Russian history is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scholars brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs. Their ascension to the throne was the result of conspiracy, so they charged these imported historians with the mission of making Romanov's reign look legitimate.

Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate Godunov rulers and the ambitious Romanov upstarts.

As Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, he successfully removes a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one: the Ancient Rome: the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the 14th century A. D., the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece.

The Ancient Egypt: the pyramids of Giza become dated to the 11th to 14th century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less. The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the 11th to 15th century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone, like enormous Dendera horoscope that hangs in main entrance to the Louvre museum in Paris.

He was the first one to decipher and date unambiguously all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case.

English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the book "History: Fiction or Science?" portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such ancient history. Period. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the 17th 18th century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them otherwise.

Islam with all its key figures appears as late as 15th-16th century A. D. as a branch of proto-Christianity. This is amply illustrated by imagery of Prophet Mahomet, archangel Gabriel, Heaven and Hell of this period. In today's Islam all imagery of the things living is taboo.

Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th 17th century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a proto Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian!) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.


The history of religions according to Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the 11th century and Jesus Christ ), Bacchic Christianity (11th to 12th century, before and after Jesus Christ), Jesus Christ Christianity (12th to 14th century) and its subsequent mutations (15th to 17th) into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on..

Saint Augustine was quite prescient when he said: "be wary of mathematicians,.. particularly when they speak the truth."

Henry Ford once said: "History is more or less bunk!"

Prominent mathematician Anatoly Fomenko not only proved it for a fact, but as true scientist tried to upgrade it into a rocket science.

This book will change your perception of History forever!
What if Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance?
What if The Old Testament was a rendition of events of the Middle Ages?
What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?
Sounds Unbelievable?
Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, the genius mathematician.
Armed with astronomy and computers Anatoly Fomenko turns History into a rocket science.

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.