The Story of Scandinavia (Paperback)

Stein Ringen

ISBN 10: 1474625215 / ISBN 13: 9781474625210

Published by Orion Publishing Co, London, 2024

About this Item

Paperback. In The Story of Scandinavia, political scholar Stein Ringen chronicles more than 1,200 years of drama, economic rise and fall, crises, kings and queens, war, peace, language and culture. Scandinavian history has been one of dramatic discontinuities of collapse and restarts, from the Viking Age to the Age of Perpetual War to the modern age today. For a thousand years, the Scandinavian countries were kingdoms of repression where monarchs played at the game of being European powers, at the expense of their own populations.The brand we now know as "Scandinavia" is a recent invention. During most of its history, Denmark and Sweden, and to some degree Norway, were bloody enemies. These sentiments of enmity have not been fully settled. Under the surface of collaboration remain undercurrents of hatred, envy, contempt and pity. What does it mean today to be Scandinavian? For the author, whose identity is Scandinavian but his life European, this masterly history is a personal exploration as well as a narrative of compelling scope. An epic new history of Scandinavia, from the Viking Age to the present day Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781474625210

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Story of Scandinavia (Paperback)
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Co, London
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1474625215
• ISBN 13: 9781474625210
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

In The Story of Scandinavia, political scholar Stein Ringen chronicles more than 1,200 years of drama, economic rise and fall, crises, kings and queens, war, peace, language and culture.

Scandinavian history has been one of dramatic discontinuities of collapse and restarts, from the Viking Age to the Age of Perpetual War to the modern age today. For a thousand years, the Scandinavian countries were kingdoms of repression where monarchs played at the game of being European powers, at the expense of their own populations.

The brand we now know as "Scandinavia" is a recent invention. During most of its history, Denmark and Sweden, and to some degree Norway, were bloody enemies. These sentiments of enmity have not been fully settled. Under the surface of collaboration remain undercurrents of hatred, envy, contempt and pity.

What does it mean today to be Scandinavian? For the author, whose identity is Scandinavian but his life European, this masterly history is a personal exploration as well as a narrative of compelling scope.

About the Author

Stein Ringen is an international scholar of Norwegian origins. Since 1990, his base has been at the University of Oxford, where he is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Social Policy. He is currently a Visiting Professor of Political Economy at King's College, London, where he now lives.