Historical Report

Being always interested in different aspects of early history, I thought this might be an easy and interesting read. It´s Lena Huldén´s "Med blod och svärd, 1000 - 1520" (= with blood and sword), about Scandinavian political history in the Middle Ages.

Plenty illustrated, which was nice. I have nothing to complain about regarding language, but clearly, Huldén is no storyteller. This is more like a report, and she is really trying to tell it ALL. Every little detail. So, if you want to know everything about royal affairs and power struggle in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the northern provinces of Germany, and the other countries around the Baltic Sea, this is the book for you.

Being really interested, I hung in there for quite a while. Only the last 25 pages or so I started leafing through it more quickly, mostly looking at the pictures. But then I´m more into Iron Age than later periods.

For the historically inclined, who often need a bit of a brush up on who did what, this would be an excellent addition to a personal reference library. Also, I think you can find this at most Swedish libraries of moderate size.