Overview

Sweden's roots sink into icy bogs where Stone Age hunters scratched petroglyphs on granite, fending off wolves till Bronze Age boats hauled amber south. Vikings exploded out around 800, their dragon-prowed ships sacking Lindisfarne and settling Novgorod, trading slaves for silver dirhams while skalds spun sagas of Odin hangs. The Middle Ages stitched it into the Kalmar Union, Margareta's iron fist knitting Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under one crown till Stockholm's bloodbath in 1520 snapped the threads, Gustav Vasa crowning himself from the rubble and flipping the church to Lutheran thrift. Empire flexed next: Gustavus Adolphus charging Breitenfeld fogs in 1632, his pike walls shredding Habsburgs till the Baltic brimmed with Swedish hulls from Riga to Stralsund. Peace treaties bloated borders, but Poltava's 1709 rout popped the bubble, Charles XII's mustache wilting in Ukrainian snow. Enlightenment tinkers like Linnaeus labeled the world's weeds, while 19th-century famines shipped Swedes to Minnesota farms, birthing unions that muscled out folkhemmet's cradle-to-grave glow under Erlander's steady hand. Twentieth-century sidesteps: dodging world wars with iron exports and spy games, then Olof Palme's anti-apartheid jabs and EU yes in '95. ABBA's disco dazzle masked oil shocks, while tech booms from Ericsson antennas to Spotify streams rewired the world. Sweden's no fairy-tale smörgåsbord-it's a lagom grind of saunas and solidarity, proving a cold corner can warm the globe with its quiet fire.

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9783565080878

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Skriuwer.com is a global community of writers and language enthusiasts dedicated to creating books that inspire, educate, and connect people across cultures. Our name means ""writer"" in Frisian, reflecting our core mission: we collaborate to produce multilingual content, with a special focus on preserving the Frisian language. It's one of Europe's oldest, related to English and Dutch, and spoken by around 500,000 people in the Netherlands. As a project of the nonprofit De Fryske Wrâld, we direct all profits from book sales into education, outreach, and resources to promote Frisian. This helps combat the challenges of globalization to this vulnerable yet vital language. When you choose our books, you're not just reading; you're supporting a worldwide effort to keep cultural traditions alive. Explore our collection at www.skriuwer.com and be part of the story. Hi, I'm Auke, a passionate advocate for the Frisian language with deep roots in Frisian culture. I grew up in this vibrant heritage and have dedicated myself to preserving our unique linguistic identity. It's spoken by about 500,000 people, mostly in Friesland, Netherlands. As a key contributor to Skriuwer.com, I work with others to create books that educate and inspire, helping ensure the Frisian language, recognized as an official language alongside Dutch, stays alive for future generations. My work comes from a strong belief in language as the foundation of history and belonging. I'm proud that proceeds from these books support nonprofit efforts like De Fryske Wrâld. Join me in sustaining this ancient European tongue. Let's keep Frisian thriving.

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