The Story of Scandinavia
From the Vikings to Social Democracy

What fascinated me here was the conclusion that a socialist's dream could indeed come true without implementing a fully socialist state. I'm guessing this is what's happening in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Keep doing, what you're doing, Scandinavia! The story of the Viking times and the account of th......more

I've generally been avoiding these grand sweep of history style books. I tend to find them overly long, sometimes superficial, or uneven, with areas of specific interest for the author getting more attention, while other areas treated with perfunctory duty. Somehow Ringen manages to avoid all of thi......more

1200 години история на три страни оформящи така наречената Скандинавия, събрана в 540 страници. Стайн Ринген ни запознава със Скандинавия отвътре, с подробности, с много детайли и интересни факти. Започва от Викингите, разбира се и паралелно разказва какво се е случвало в Швеция, Норвегия и Дания. П......more

Eindelijk een boek met een mooi ‘totaaloverzicht’ van de Scandinavische geschiedenis nu immers het Deense, Noorse en Zweedse verleden nadrukkelijk met elkaar is verbonden. Het boek wordt ingeleid met prikkelende vragen zoals waarom Zweden zich niet als van oudsher meer op het oosten (Finland, Ruslan......more

Very poorly translated into English which made the book difficult to follow. The first 3/4 were very confusing and jumped massively back and forth in time (although not an easy task with all of the royalty) which made it difficult to get a sense of the flow through the book. A shame, it had potentia......more