History of Sweden : A captivating guide to Swedish history, starting from ancient times through the Viking Age and Swedish empire to the present
Captivating HistoryWhen asked to name something they know about Sweden, many people (especially in the English-speaking world) will name the following, in no particular order: the ready-to-make furniture brand IKEA, the famously safe Volvo cars, the Vikings, the somewhat infamous Old Milwaukee Beer “Swedish Bikini Team” commercials, the Nobel Prize, and ABBA.
Among the more concrete and serious things that many know (or think they know) about Sweden are the so-called “cradle to the grave” welfare state and the nation’s famous neutrality. Sweden has not been involved in a war in some two hundred years. Recently, many might know that Sweden is starting to struggle with issues over immigration from the war-torn Middle East, especially since 2015.
Obviously, there is much more to Sweden than Vikings, cars, furniture, and blondes. (Though a recent study concluded that somewhere between 50 and 80 percent of Swedes have light hair, not all are blonde, although they are some of the tallest people in the world.) In Captivating History’s History of Sweden, you’ll find out all you want to know about this famous Nordic country.