Scandinavia (Tony Griffiths, 2004)

One of the books I took with me on our trip to Copenhagen in December was the non-fiction history Scandinavia, which did exactly what it says on the cover, namely giving a swift run through the last few hundred years of life in Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway (and, very briefly in one paragraph, Iceland). In just 280 pages, author Tony Griffiths zips through the history of 4 countries, and therein lies the biggest problem I had with the book. As alternating passages covered alternating countries, it was very easy to lose track of which historical leaders led which country, or which bit of which Scandinavian city he was talking about. 

The book would have been greatly improved through the inclusion of two appendices - one with a chronological list of leaders for each country, and a second with some bloody maps! It found it most odd that there's not a single map or illustration in the whole volume, despite being a book about a part of the world that is not that well documented. I know what the capital cities of each country is, but to be honest I'd be hard pressed to pin point them on a map, let alone know where some of the more obscure regions of Norway are or which towns lay on the Finnish border with Russia. 

Despite my grumbles, Scandinavia was a very interesting read, albeit occasionally infuriating. It's a fascinating part of the world, and I'm always open to learning more about this planet we call home. As ever, I read these books and then instantly forget everything I've read, or rather I couldn't call to mind specific facts or dates, but by osmosis I've processed information for later. The most interesting parts of Scandinavia where in the twentieth century and during the war years when each country had a different approach to getting involved, or had different enemies. It's fascinating stuff. Before the twentieth century the 4 Scandinavian countries used to be into a bit of 'wife-swapping' with each other and Russia, sometimes Norway and Denmark were united, sometimes Finland and Russia... it was hard to keep up with sometimes - maybe a 3rd appendix would be good, showing the various inter-relationships. 

As an introduction to the histories of 4 fascinating countries, Scandinavia was successful. If I wanted to know more though I'd look to separate volumes on each for more depth and coherence.