Finland Books

This book shows how we can all grow and "become" as long as we live. It is delightfully written, characters are real and can be related to!!

This is a must read for the over 40 crowd. A GREAT read for teens on up.

I have enjoyed this series of books. They are an easy read and you can't help but laugh out loud sometimes. I enjoy the words of wisdom that you receive from the book. It is easy to think of the book as a sort of devotional. I have shared the books with my friends. I have just purchased the last two in the series and can't wait to read them. I have the hardback devotional book that goes along with the Sisterchick books and it is very good also.

This was the first book I read and I am now forever hooked!

"Sisterchicks on the Loose" is a fun and hilarious read! Women of all ages can relate to these two crazy sisterchicks, lost in drama and searching for God in the midst of their adventures. You'll both tear up and giggle while reading this fantastic story! =)

A great Christian fiction book. It is so much fun to live through this pair of sisterchicks! It is about two best friends going on an adventure and then, learning more and more about themselves. No one goes home the same! It is fun but also thought provoking!

The Kalevala is the result of Elias Lönnrot collecting and commiting to paper the oral traditions of the Finnish people to produce an epic tale.
This translation has captured the poetic delivery of the original Finnish as perfectly as these two opposing languages could.
The poetry weaves the tales of Väinämöinen, an old seer and the younger Joukahainen who wishes to challenge him. This angers Väinämöinen who chants him deep into a swamp, a meadow and a heath!! To get himself out of trouble Joukahainen offers the old seer his sister Aino as a bride. Väinämöinen thinking he has been offered a house keeper accepts. Aino is quite taken with being his bride but Väinämöinen has other ideas and heads North to woo the maiden of the North. He can marry her if he forges a Sampo, which is a magical machine that churns out salt, flour and money! He can't do that but he knows a man who can, his good friend Ilmarinen the blacksmith. He has to trick Ilmarinen into going North but he makes the Sampo. Then the marriage requires another task and so the maiden remains unmarried.

Meanwhile, another character Lemminkäinen decides to go North and try his luck winning the maiden. He is given tasks in order to win her hand, capturing the elk of Hiisi and the swan from the river of Tuonela. The latter task nearly kills him and he gives up.

Väinämöinen is now making himself a boat to head back up North but he runs out of spells so he has to go and find Vipunen, a giant who knows all the spells. He gets his spells, finishes his boat and heads North but he is seen by the sister of the blacksmith and the blacksmith rides like the wind on his horse and catches up with him. The two men make a pact that they will let the maiden choose between them. The maiden choose Ilmarinen because he forged the Sampo but her mother still wants more tasks done and she orders Ilmarinen to plough the field of vipers. Ilmarinen finds this easy with his armoured boots and cape and so the crone of the North sets him the task of capturing the giant pike of the chill north sea without line or net!!Ilmarinen forges himself a giant eagle and captures the pike. Now the old crone is satisfied and the wedding takes place. Väinämöinen makes a kantele from the jaw of the pike which produces sweet voiced music such that tames the beasts and even causes the sea king Ahti to rise from the depths. He and Ilmarinen use the sweet music to soothe the beasts of the North whilst they take the Sampo for themselves and set sail for home. Louhi, mistress of the North casts a fog spell to stop them, which Väinämöinen conjures away so Louhi unleashes a terrible storm which sweeps the kantele from the boat whereupon Ahti the sea king thinks it is a present to him and he calms the sea. The crone turns herself into an eagle and attacks Väinämöinen's boat and in the struggle the Sampo is broken into pieces. Some of the pieces are washed up on the shore and from the fragments Ilmarinen makes amulets and rings thinking that perhaps there is still some magic left in the pieces. Each resident of Kalevala wears a magic piece on special occasions, wishing for a peaceful life.

Now I've just condensed an epic piece into a few short paragraphs...for which I apologise but it's a great tale and maybe this will encourage folk to read it themselves.

The Kalevala has a flow to it that makes the plot/ idea easy to follow. If English is your second language you will struggle with some of its vocabulary. The stories and the essence of this epic poem are captivating. I didn't want to put the book down at night. This is a good way to get to know Finnish culture.

This review is in two parts:

THE TRANSLATION: When it comes to reading ancient literature there are often numerous versions and translations. Unless a story is REALLY good, I only want to read it once. So it only makes sense that one should want to read the best version/translation available.
Thankfully, the Keith Bosley translation of The Kalevala is the most reader-friendly, very much like Seamus Heaney's translation of "Beowulf".
The Kalevala does not rhyme, although there are a few instances of alliteration scattered throughout. Each line is usually a handful of words comprising an even larger sentence, but it's done in a tasteful way so that you won't feel like you're reading a James Joyce run-on sentence like in "Ulysses".

THE EPIC:
The Kalevala bounces around telling tales of several major characters, which is fortunate, considering the length of the work. Without giving anything away, the characters do things like get married, steal precious relics, sing magical songs, go to war and build many more precious relics.

There are lots of good "Chapters" in The Kalevala and I was surprised that a few of my favorites had little or no action in them (according to a guy's definition of action, at least). One of which was the marriage sequence of Chapters 21-24. If you've ever heard the advice, "Don't get married", this is probably one of the sources where such advice comes from.

It is also noteworthy how much influence The Kalevala has had on Fantasy and Metal. If I remember correctly, Tolkien's "Silmarillion" starts off with beings singing things into existence, much like the characters in The Kalevala do.
The Finnish metal band "Ensiferum" has songs that are inspired straight from The Kalevala, such as "Old Man" which refers to Vainamoinen.
There are many other bands in the folk metal genre, that, although they don't specifically cite The Kalevala as an inspiration they clearly have songs that are similar to The Kalevala's oral tradition. Some examples (in my opinion) would be Korpiklaani (Finnish), Metsatoell and Raud Ants (Estonian).

Overall, I liked The Kalevala much more than I thought I would, given its length and I have to admit: I found it more interesting than Beowulf.

There is an elegant, powerful simplicity to this epic tale, no matter what language you read it in. The symbols transcend both language and time. There is nothing contrived here. Such a tale could not be counterfeited by a modern mind.At the center of the entire epic is Vainamoinen, the singer at the world's dawn. Here is the archetype for the wizard- the first and greatest among shamans. Before Merlin, before Taliesin, before Math, before Manannan, there was Vainamoinen, Eternal Seer.Something real and vital carries over even in translation. Reading this book on a cold winter's night you can taste the sea and smell the forest. You can identify with the characters even though they have godlike powers, because they also have trades that they live by (Vainamoinen is a boatbuilder, Ilmarinen a smith, Joukahainen builds his own crossbows, etc.) These Godlike beings lived simple lives close to the earth. And simple wisdom is powerful wisdom. Yet, there is also so much more of the old, deep legends and symbols buried in these lines. You can tell that they were preserved long after the long lines of singers had ceased to know their original meanings.The ancient Finns believed in the power of words, and the greater power of songs. There is still power here. Or as the epic says:

Words shall not be hid

nor spells be buried;

might shall not sink underground

though the mighty go.

I enjoyed this epic story of Finnish mythology. It was a musical, delightful collection of heroic stories that didn't overwhelm me. I could keep track of the characters and what they respresented quite easily.

I was delighted by this book! I hope all Finnish children are exposed to the exciting yet fun depiction of their mythological heritage.

I know that scholars want to read everything and disect the stories for deeper meanings -- which is just fine -- but I can really see this as a set of stories being told to small children while the whole family sat around the fireplace.

Jyväskylän yliopiston kirjasto palvelee päivittäin yli 4000 ja vuotuisesti yli miljoonaa asiakasta. Kokoelmissa on n. 1,5 milj. teosta ja saapuvia lehtiä n. 9000 kappaletta. Asiakkaiden käytössä ovat koti- ja ulkomaiset tietokannat sekä yli 3000 elektronista lehteä. JYK on vapaakappalekirjasto, Euroopan Unionin EDC-tallekirjasto ja toimii myös kasvatustieteiden, psykologian ja liikuntatieteiden keskuskirjastona.

Kirjaston tehtävänä on kehittyä monipuoliseksi oppimisympäristöksi ja integroida perinteiset sekä elektroniset tiedonlähteet nykyaikaiseksi tietoympäristöksi

Jyväskylän yliopiston kirjasto palvelee päivittäin yli 4000 ja vuotuisesti yli miljoonaa asiakasta. Kokoelmissa on n. 1,5 milj. teosta ja saapuvia lehtiä n. 9000 kappaletta. Asiakkaiden käytössä ovat koti- ja ulkomaiset tietokannat sekä yli 3000 elektronista lehteä. JYK on vapaakappalekirjasto, Euroopan Unionin EDC-tallekirjasto ja toimii myös kasvatustieteiden, psykologian ja liikuntatieteiden keskuskirjastona.

Kirjaston tehtävänä on kehittyä monipuoliseksi oppimisympäristöksi ja integroida perinteiset sekä elektroniset tiedonlähteet nykyaikaiseksi tietoympäristöksi

Jyväskylän yliopiston kirjasto palvelee päivittäin yli 4000 ja vuotuisesti yli miljoonaa asiakasta. Kokoelmissa on n. 1,5 milj. teosta ja saapuvia lehtiä n. 9000 kappaletta. Asiakkaiden käytössä ovat koti- ja ulkomaiset tietokannat sekä yli 3000 elektronista lehteä. JYK on vapaakappalekirjasto, Euroopan Unionin EDC-tallekirjasto ja toimii myös kasvatustieteiden, psykologian ja liikuntatieteiden keskuskirjastona.

Kirjaston tehtävänä on kehittyä monipuoliseksi oppimisympäristöksi ja integroida perinteiset sekä elektroniset tiedonlähteet nykyaikaiseksi tietoympäristöksi

Jyväskylän yliopiston kirjasto palvelee päivittäin yli 4000 ja vuotuisesti yli miljoonaa asiakasta. Kokoelmissa on n. 1,5 milj. teosta ja saapuvia lehtiä n. 9000 kappaletta. Asiakkaiden käytössä ovat koti- ja ulkomaiset tietokannat sekä yli 3000 elektronista lehteä. JYK on vapaakappalekirjasto, Euroopan Unionin EDC-tallekirjasto ja toimii myös kasvatustieteiden, psykologian ja liikuntatieteiden keskuskirjastona.

Kirjaston tehtävänä on kehittyä monipuoliseksi oppimisympäristöksi ja integroida perinteiset sekä elektroniset tiedonlähteet nykyaikaiseksi tietoympäristöksi

Jyväskylän yliopiston kirjasto palvelee päivittäin yli 4000 ja vuotuisesti yli miljoonaa asiakasta. Kokoelmissa on n. 1,5 milj. teosta ja saapuvia lehtiä n. 9000 kappaletta. Asiakkaiden käytössä ovat koti- ja ulkomaiset tietokannat sekä yli 3000 elektronista lehteä. JYK on vapaakappalekirjasto, Euroopan Unionin EDC-tallekirjasto ja toimii myös kasvatustieteiden, psykologian ja liikuntatieteiden keskuskirjastona.

Kirjaston tehtävänä on kehittyä monipuoliseksi oppimisympäristöksi ja integroida perinteiset sekä elektroniset tiedonlähteet nykyaikaiseksi tietoympäristöksi

This is an excellent Finnish cookbook. My wife, who is of Finnish decent, has been thrilled with her copy. She says she has found many recipes that her mother and grandmother both used and it is especially fun to read the titles in the Finnish words she has known . We use a great deal of Finnish food in our daily diet, but there are a great many in this book that are yet to be tried. Beatrice Ojakangas deserves 5 stars for putting forth such a great book, and for mixing in a little of Finnish culture as a bonus.

My first husband was a Finn, bred, born and raised, and often longed for the food of his youth. This book was invaluable; it had all the recipes for dishes that he missed, with instructions that let me turn out perfect pulla (a wonderful bread), kalakukko (rye bread stuffed with fish and bacon) and piirakka (rice or potato pasties) in record time. Some of the cultural information is a bit dated in my edition (I have the old 60s version), but it was still an interesting read. My daughters still make piirakka every Christmas Eve.

My edition has a typo that I hope has been corrected in the newer one. The recipe for lutefisk starts with "Take a large fried codfish..." It should, of course, be a large dried codfish.

This book is really a keepsake for the newest Finnish generations. I didn't have a recipe book from my grandparents or aunts, but there are so many things my grandmother made and she was also from Northern Minnesota. The only thing I wish it had more of was pictures, but the author is so knowledgeable, that this book is a must for the 3rd and 4th generation Finns.

This book is an introduction to the Finnish kitchen. Ojakangas, a second generation Finnish-America, learned some traditional Finnish dishes from her grandmother. But when her husband was awarded a Fulbright grant in Finland for 1960-61, she was able to get make an intensive study of Finnish food culture. She discovered how some of the dishes she had learned to make as a child had roots deep in Finland, while others were presumably American creations. In this collection of recipes, Ojakangas focuses on the foods found on Finnish tables, although she does include some of the Finnish American traditions that have become standard in Finnish-American culture.

The book makes fascinating reading, for Ojakangas provides not only the common recipes, but she also includes with each recipe a brief description of how the dish fits into the context of the daily diet. Rather than following the standard American cookbook organization of appetizers and soups, main dishes, sides dishes, and desserts, Ojakangas pay close attention to which types of foods are most important for Finns and how they are used together. With this in mind, the book begins with breads, moves on to the coffee table (mainly cookies and cakes), pastries (both sweet and savory), soups, fish, meat dishes (heavy on the liver, pork, and sausage, and very little chicken), vegetables and salads (mostly roots, very little greenery), desserts (fruit soups and porridges), dairy and eggs, beverages, sauces, and sandwiches (open-faced). At the end of the book is a chapter with suggested menus for special occasions and a selected reading list and bibliography.

This is the best and most authentic Finnish cookbook that I've come across in English. I've tried out a few Finnish American cookbooks, and although their recipes may be tasty, they often are distinctly American in flavor, with many more ingredients like green vegetables than one would ever find in Finland. In this book, we find recipes for all the Finnish standards, for everything from kalakukko to maksalaatikko, from mämmi to sima. Ojakangas provides both the Finnish and English names for each dish; although the Finnish is generally quite accurate, there are a few typos. (I stared at "valdemariisi" for quite some time before I realized it should have been written "vadelmariisi", or raspberry rice.)

The culinary descriptions make this book great reading for anyone contemplating visiting or living in Finland for an extended period. I sure wish I had read it before heading off to study in Finland as an exchange student. The first week I arrived in the country, my host-mother showed me around the kitchen and told me to make myself at home. Then she went off to work in Helsinki for the week, and I was left to fend for myself along with her teenage daughters. By the end of the week, I was starving, having consumed all the food that was familiar to me in the first few days. When my host-mother returned from Helsinki and heard that I had reported there was no food in the house, she became very upset, and showed me a large sack of potatoes and other mysterious food stores. At the time, although I was an decent pasta cook and could make some passable stir-fried vegetables, I had never cooked a potato in my life-nor did I know what to do with any of the other foods in the kitchen. I didn't know what Finns ate or when they ate it, so I was completely at a loss when left to feed myself in a Finnish kitchen. A thorough reading of this book before leaving home would have provided a great preparation for what I would find in Finland. I would not have been so surprised by the dark chewy breads, the early meal times, and the importance of lunch and coffee-hour rather than dinner and dessert.

I love this book, and I would never have stumbled upon it except for Amazon's "recommendations" program.
My grandmother was Finnish and used to bake bread on a regular basis. I was only 7 years old the last time I saw her, but as I knead the Finnish rye bread dough, I can see her in her kitchen making bread.
I want to make everything in the book. Everything in it seems "right" to me. I see myself in it.

My grandmother gave this book to be years ago and it sat in my closet for a long time. I never realized how interested I would become in stuff like this until the last few years. This collection of Finish folktales, mythology, and magic and the such is a very interesting read. Not a whole lot is known about this. Most of the tales and legends were spread by word of mouth throughout the snowy and forest filled country throughout time. I love reading these translations alooking at the pictures. I came upon this book again while searching through my closet the other day and I started to look at it again instead of finding what I was looking for. I wish my grandmother was still alive so I could thank her for this.

I read Friberg's translation, along with every other available one in English, as research for my picture book retelling "The Maiden of Northland." Friberg's was simply the best, by far.

This translation if folksy and sensitive to the feel of the original. Although not encumbered with scholarly precision, it is right on the mark for continuing the ancient tradtions of the Finns. This was a major resource for me in the writing of my book Finnish Magic. The illustrations too are delightful

Friberg does a good job of translating the Kalevala into a readable English form. The Kalevala is a collection of 'Runos' or poems that were sung by storytellers. Friberg's translation is of the spirit of the stories. Some translations have tried to translate both the verse and the story making both dry and uninteresting. Frieberg concentrates on making the story read well in current English.

The extras to this edition make it worth the price. It is beautifully illustrated by Bjorn Landstrom--ALMOST, but not quite, comparable to the old edition illustrated by Gallen-Kallela. In the preface Friberg describes the impact the publication of the Kaleva had on the the development of a national identity for the Finnish people. A separate section describes the structure of the epic poem and the underlying motifs. The introduction details a history of the English translations (Porters [2], Crawford, Magoun, Kirby). Friberg's translation is in a freer form which does not follow the traditional numbering of the runes, BUT there are corresponding numbers to the traditional which refer to a "Notes" section which also includes explanatory notes. There is a glossary with many Finnish translations of individual English words. Remarkably, due to an accident, Friberg had a gradual loss of sight. He attended a school for the blind, then a public high school and then Harvard. He spoke Finnish as a second language and had committed to memory much of the Kaleva. Unlike earlier editions which were translated from the German, he was able to translate his work directly from the Finnish language. All these "extras" make this book well worth the price.

This book is fascinating. I was in Finland for a year for Fulbright and this book helped me to begin understanding the culture of Finns. It is honest and at times hilarious!

I shared it with my Finnish friends while I was there and we roared with laughter because it is all dead on!

Perfect for the person who will be going to Finland, and live for any length of time there. I am not entirely sure it would be necessary reading for the tourist, but much better for a person who will actually live amongst the Finns. So, if you are in business and will be spending any significant time in Finland, this is very much essential reading. It would be good for Diplomats new to the country or their jobs to read the work as well.

However, for the children of Finnish Immigrants, ( I can really only speak for Canada, but think it would apply evenly to the United States, specifically Minnesota ) I think the work to be ESSENTIAL READING. Much of Finnish culture was imparted to me, and my cousins while growing up, but it was Swallow's attention to the details, and her "anglo-sizing" events that made many things much more clear to me.

Swallow has a wit and humour to her writing, and it was an enjoyable read. I have kept it secret, and away from my wife, as I am sure that she would poke fun at some of the Finnish idiosyncrasies.

Excellent book.

I, unfortunately, found the book after our recent trip. I had to laugh at so many of the customs and especially the traits, as I am of Finnish decent. It was light hearted, and I found it to be right on the mark, especially in helping me find out why I am the way I am. Have passed the book around and everyone agrees that it's a winner!

I'm leaving in August to be an exchange student to Finland and this book told me everything the Lonely planet guides were afraid too! This book was divided into nicely planned sections with a wonderful section dedicated to doing bussiness in the country. No book about Finland would be complete without the sauna chapter- and this book spares nothing. It has been by far the best preparation book I've read. The only downfall is that it is written by a Brittish woman- but she makes both Bristtish and American comparisons whenever possible.

I brought this book for my 6yr old son who loves dinosaurs. We were very pleased the pictures jumped off the pages. The details in this book really bring dinosaurs to life.

The age range specified for this book, as listed on the amazon web page, is 4-8 years old. I'm not an expert on kids that age, & they undoubtedly would be interested in the illustrations, but the text of this book is certainly more advanced than that. Phrases like "preposterously outsized" (p. 28), "chalk-forming single-celled organisms (p. 51), etc. would make the text comprehensible to a bit older group than 4-8 year olds. I'm not complaining about the way the book is written (it's written in a very clear, very straightforward, & informative style, using simple language), I'm just referring to the claimed target age group. The illustrations range from OK to outstanding, although there is some redundancy (the terrific Giganotosaurus illustration is used for the front cover, spread across pp. 4-5, & the same illustration is used again on pp. 8-9 in a different setting). Although the scope of this book is quite limited (it is, after all, only 64 pages), there is a lot of interesting information contained on the dinosaurs it does cover, & there are explanations of basic (& not so basic) facts answering often asked questions (like the reason many dinosaur forelimbs are so short). Adults with some knowledge of dinosaurs can learn quite a bit here as well. For example, p. 26 shows a skeletal layout of a Velociraptor & Protoceratops that I've seen before but never fully understood. Author David Lambert explains what probably happened to cause the positions of these two dinosaurs. A good book to have in your dinosaur library.

I bought this for my three year old boy last year hoping he would grow into it. As predicted, at first he only paid attention to the impressive photos of the dinosaurs that dominated each two-page section: but a year later, he is drawn to examine the smaller pictures and ask more questions about the animals. This book works so well, I think, because it can appeal to a wide age range of children and has something of interest in it appropriate to every stage of learning.

The best educational point about this book IMHO is that the dinosaurs featured are not the familiar ones we see in all the other dinosaur picture books (T rex, Brontosaurus, Triceratops, etc), but the author chooses to focus on less-known types such as Barosaurus, Gigantosaurus, Gastonia and Coelophysis, to name a few. Broader subjects include social behaviors, environmental factors that influenced body types and hide patterns/colors, and speculation on possible fates of the dinosaurs. Supplemented with a more traditional dinosaur picture book, your child will eventually have an uncommon knowledge on dinosaurs.

DK Guide to Dinosaurs is also one of the more well-illustrated dinosaur picture books for kids in their grade school years. (Actually, the main "illustrations" are photographs of quality museum models in realistic diorama environments). The unusual design layouts are grounded on black rather than the traditional white, lending a sophisticated look to a subject that is all too often overly textbook-ish in other natural history picture books of this type. More importantly however, the sidebars, timelines and graphical inserts are packed with information and placed in a way that flows well with the main page, leading the eye to points of interest along the page and teaching kids in a more subtle style.

This would be a very good choice for children starting grade school and I can foresee many years when it will be used as a reference for reports and other school projects. My only criticism is that the binding will not take continual abuse from the smaller children in the family, so keep it on a higher shelf...

There are thirty chapters in all, each consisting of two pages with illustrations, graphs and descriptions. For the two-page spread on reconstructing the past, this is done in full-length, so the book must be turned another way for you to view this chapter. My son likes the Feet and Footprints chapter along with the Migration and Killer Instinct. You can see the " Powerful jaws were Tyrannosaurus's main weapon."

In the chapter, Types of Dinosaurs it is broken down into the periods of Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous. For the Heads and Skulls chapter it is mentioned, " Suchomimus had a long, narrow head like a crocodile's, and teeth to match." Prehistoric Earth breaks down what each continent was like during the time period, for Triassic Life" The first dinosaurs appeared in the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago." For the Cretaceous World "The Earth began to take on its present form in the Cretaceous."

DK Guide to Dinosaurs is suited for children who are interested in learning everything you could ever want to know about Dinosaurs as well as Adults who are curious about them. If you ever had to write a book report this would be the book to purchase on the subject of Dinosaurs.

We have borrowed numerous books over the course of a year on Dinosaurs and I would place this book at the top of the list in gaining knowledge and the vivid illustrations that bring this period to life through the pages of DK Guide to Dinosaurs.

My seven-year old says there are many pages in this book and he reads it at leisure a few chapters at a time. You can gain insight into the social life of Dinosaurs, what their favorite food was as well as which ones were carnivores. There are illustrations of dinosaur eggs and the meteors that were thought to destroy the land of the dinosaurs. The most colorful page is the DinoBirds where you see the red and blue feathered DinoTurkey, and wonder whether the Velociraptor was a DinoBird too.

There is a lot to absorb in DK Guide to Dinosaurs but not overwhelming if you pick and choose topics of interest first and delve in slowly. Inside the index you can easily find where claws are discussed, nasal bosses, plants, asteroids, volcanoes and snakes to name a few. Dorling Kindersley acknowledged many photographs that were reproduced within DK Guide to Dinosaurs, which would make a great gift for any Dinosaur loving fantatic! For some kids just learning the names of all the Dinosaurs can be a fun challenge. This over sized book would sit nicely on a coffee table and be ideal for reading in a classroom environment a chapter a day.

Good value, well written and with pictures os good quality.
And,...nice country.
JA

With vivid descriptions of cultures and places, superb maps, expert historical discussions, and delightfully charming photographs from cover to cover, this guide offers the reader everything needed to visit this magnificent, magical country.

I lived in Helsinki for 4 months and traveled around a bit (to Kuopio, Karigasniemi and Ivalo, as well as eastward to St. Petersburg). This is the best guide to Finland I've seen in English. They give not only important tourist information (maps, restaurant and hotel recommendations, attractions, tips, etc.), but also great cultural and historical information that will help put all the tourist stuff in perspective for you.

Finland can seem surprisingly foreign if you're expecting it to be just like Scandinavia or the rest of western Europe. But with a little help from the Insight guide you'll find it unique and exciting and beautiful rather than frighteningly different. Get ready for all the stereotypical pleasures (like the sauna and amazing architecture) and some less stereotypical ones like cutting edge, world class design, beautiful birch forests, spectacular lakes, and really weird yogurt-like stuff and juustoleipä!

Finland, here you come!

All too often, Finland has been unfairly treated by many snobbish travel writers - too clean, too expensive, too Northern. For many of those identifying Finland only with mobile phones, the history, the architecture and the landscapes of this brave, spectacularly handsome and exceedingly talented country is largely unknown. This guide tells the story and shows the pictures in a friendly, seemingly effortless and hugely informative way.

The book - in common with other Insight Guide publications - is as beautiful as the cover picture suggests. They do not cut corners on buying top quality photos or commissioning informed articles, and it shows. The writing does not have the cynicism and grumpy attitude of shoestring-travel guidebooks: instead, it offers warmth and genuine attempt to look into the country and its people (not only to list its cheapest accommodation).

Insight Guides is quite laconic about basic survival within the country, but the pages that are there fully fit the task suffice. Moreover, in Finland, where the knowledge of English is practically universal and the system of public information about transport and other facilities is second to none, you do not need too much hand-holding anyway.

This beautiful and informative book is worth every penny.

If you're an aviation, history or WWII buff, you'll like this book. The timeline is historically correct and you'll learn about the Russo-Finnish War---a war that you probably never heard of. It was a page turner that I hated to put down.

As a Nevil Shute fan I always wondered what happened to the Viceroy parked in the rear of the Airspeed Ltd. hangar that Shute described in his book Slide Rule. Now I know. Airspeed Ltd., Nevil Norway and the Viceroy are all packed into The Mannerheim Line. If you like Nevil Shute you'll like this book--it's a great read.

The author evidentally thoroughly researched the historical events in this book. It was well written and easy to read. The narration is excellent. The characters are made to seem as real American heroes. It records a part of history that is little-known to the average reader. Those familiar with aircraft would particularly appreciate the book and its terminology. Recommended reading for those who are interested in lesser-known world events.

This is a great period action story. The author certainly knows his way around airplanes and gives the reader lots of unusual detail that will be appreciated by airplane buffs. The chapters on World War II in Finland provide a new picture of a little known campaign. The characters are well drawn. They aren't unrealistic glamor types, but good guys trying to get the job done. Highly recommended.

This is another great piece of work by Christopher Hilton. Now, don't think I'm a Hilton fan. I'm simply familiar with Hilton's work. I purchased this title for the simple reason that Hakkinen is my all time hero. I recommend this title to any Formula One or Hakkinen fan. Do note that it only goes up to the 1997 season, but that is what you want to know about anyway, right? Learn about Mika's "casual" living style and sometimes a little too "carefree" life as an up and coming driver. There will be laughs along the way without doubt!

Enjoy!

Christopher Hilton's biography of Finnish racing driver Mika Hakkinen was written before Hakkinen won the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship at the wheel of his West McLaren Mercedes last year.

Hilton opens his story with the final fateful moments leading up to Hakkinen's serious accident during qualifying for the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, and days later, Hakkinen's regaining consciousness in the intensive care ward of an Adelaide hospital.

He then takes us back to the beginning, retracing Hakkinen's childhood and early racing career in Finland through to his inevitable move to Britain, his progress through the junior racing formulae and the break into the big-time with the now-defunct Lotus F1 team.

The story ends towards the end of 1997 ‡ just, it can be argued, when it was getting REALLY interesting!

Hilton's style is idiosyncratic, but readers who are happy to put up with his asides and personal touches will be rewarded with an empathetic, well-researched and ultimately authoritative work on the latest F1 World Champion.

But despite Hilton's claims that Hakkinen remains one of the most accessible F1 racers of his time, this book lacks a certain something.

Hakkinen certainly comes across as unaffected, accessible and supremely talented ‡ racing a car at breathtaking speed is, after all, only ìdoing what comes naturallyí, as Hilton's book is subtitled.

But unlike biographies/autobiographies of previous world champions ‡ Alan Jones' collaboration with Keith Botsford, ìDriving Ambitioní, or Botsford's collaboration with Keke Rosberg, ìKekeí spring to mind immediately ‡ one leaves Hilton's book with a little sense of knowing the man.

Even one of Hilton's own previous efforts, Ayrton Senna ‡ The Hard Edge of Genius, gave a far greater insight into its subject. Perhaps that was an indication of Senna himself; he was known to be a man given to deeper thoughts than many of his contemporaries and rivals.

Work may be underway even now on a book by Hakkinen's own hand. But for his fans, and they are legion, for the time being at least this book is about the best there is.

Hilton has done a fair job, and shown impressive prescience in selecting Hakkinen as a candidate for a biography. It needs to be updated, to take account of the 1998 championship-winning season.

Hilton's book will sell well and satisfy the inevitable post-championship demand for information on the man of the moment. But it's not the definitive essay on Hakkinen that his fans, and fans of motorsport generally, are waiting for.

Now that Mika has one the World Drivers Championship (twice), this makes an interesting read.

Although seemingly distant, and lacking interest in his chosen sport, this book highlights the talents that Mika clearly has in order to achieve his dream.

With help from his boss, Ron Dennis, Hilton highlights how Dennis and Hakkinen spent many long hours coupled together, penetrating each other's heads and, ultimately, getting the best out of each other. The book's title expresses this in concise terms.

While illustration is sparse, it spares us the pointless "page filling" of many lesser books, and gets to the point.

A great read for any fan of Mika, and McLaren.

This book contain all of Mika's! From his karting days to F-1, FANTASTIC~~ Quick buy, before he is going to be the World Champion!