What You Should Know About Sweden

Very much of what this book contains you are not likely to find in any travel guide. Did you know, for instance, that Sweden held Olympic Games as early as 1834, sixty-two years before the first Olympics of the modern era? That peaceful Sweden has been a colonial power ruling over territories far from Europe? That the man who gave his name to the hundred-degree thermometer was a Swedish astronomer?

Do you know how Sweden acted and reacted in the two world wars? Who the “Super Swedes” were? Or the Scots who came to fight, or make their fortune in Sweden and left an indelible mark on the country? Do you know what a genuine smörgåsbord consists of, how it should be eaten, what the word really means and why it was given a seemingly incongruous name? Do you know how IKEA was formed, by whom and why he remains such a controversial figure? That Swedish inventions range from dynamite to Minecraft and from the modern adjustable spanner/wrench to Spotify? There are answers to these and many more questions.

However, there is also a great deal of information for anyone visiting, or thinking about visiting, the country, as well as showing where to obtain the latest information about places, accommodation, restaurants, events etc. at the click of a mouse.