An Armchair Traveller's History of Finland

by Jonathan Clements

In the American mind, Finland is often swept up in the general group of Nordic countries, little known and seldom gaining prominence on its own. But as Jonathan Clements shows in An Armchair Traveller’s History of Finland , it has a long and fascinating history, one that offers oddities and excitements from prehistoric herders to medieval lords, Christian martyrs and Viking kings, and the war heroes who held off the Soviet Union against long odds.

Clements travels the length of the country as he tells these stories, along the way offering accounts of Finland’s public artworks, literary giants, legends and folktales, and famous figures. The result is the perfect introduction to Finland for armchair and actual travelers alike.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2014

About the author

Jonathan Clements is an author, translator, biographer and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Marco Polo, Mao Zedong, Koxinga and Qin Shihuangdi. He also writes for NEO magazine and is the co-author of encyclopedias of anime and Japanese television dramas.

Reviews

[Илмар Шалаоя · Rating 4 out of 5]

A British lad's concise take on Finnish history and culture from its misty past to modern times, with a keen emphasis on the the last 500 years. The language is easy-going, lively, and occasionally delightfully humorous. Since Clements acknowledges that Finnish history-writing has in the past been notoriously ridden with a variety of political revisionisms, he has taken the traditional pompous depictions of events with a grain of salt and is able to steer clear from the common fallacies with his road-worn outsider realism.

[John Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this short 150-page book, Jonathan Clements, a British resident of Finland, gives a short history of Finland and an even shorter travel guide to its major cities. He writes in a humorous way and tells its history in an interesting and understandable way.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book at the Academic bookstore in Helsinki last week and greatly enjoyed learning more about Finnish history and culture. The author is a British travel writer married to a Finn who explains the various periods of Finnish history with insight and humour. The Swedish and Russian influences are especially well explained. The book also contains an extensive discussion of Finnish food and drink, which the author does not consider to be very good, and various points of interest in Finnish cities. There is a useful further reading section and Finnish film suggestions at the end. There are map but the inclusion of a few phrases of the language would have been useful. Very helpful for travelers and other readers seeking an introduction to Finland's history.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting info re: Finnish history places and culture in an engaging format. A great springboard into further study.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clements, who lives in Finland and has written a biography of Mannerheim, is a witty and informative guide through Finland's history and culture. Somehow, a people who lived under the rule of Sweden and Russia for centuries and inhabit a land with few natural resources, have built a democratic, highly educated and immensely advanced society. Their story is delightfully and lovingly told by Clements. It's not an in-depth guide, and is not intended to be, but you could do a lot worse than take this along in your carry-on for the flight to Helsinki.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty solid little overview of Finnish history. It's not anything definitive, but it does give you the general sense of the nation's struggles and cultural highlights. A good starting point if you're interested in the country that now sits as a NATO member on Russia's border.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sat on the bedside table for a while before I got to it. Quick read. Very droll. I didn't know anything about Finland before it became part of Russia. Now I do!